The Atlanta Dream have fired coach Tanisha Wright, the team announced on Wednesday. Wright, who was hired in 2021, went 48-68 in three seasons in charge, but did lead the Dream to two playoff appearances, both of which ended in first-round exits.
"Tanisha was an important contributor in our efforts to rebuild the Dream, and we want to thank her for her hard work and dedication to the Dream over the last three seasons and wish her the best in the future," Dream general manager Dan Padover stated in a press release.
"At this time, we believe a change is needed to lead our players and organization to the next chapter in our efforts to be a top team in the WNBA."
A first-round pick in 2005, Wright spent over a decade in the league with the Seattle Storm, Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty. She won a title with the Storm in 2010, and made five All-Defensive First Team appearances. Her coaching career began while she was playing, when she joined the University of North Carolina at Charlotte's women's basketball program as an assistant. From there, she joined the Las Vegas Aces as an assistant before being hired by the Dream.
Wright was brought in to stabilize a franchise that had gone through a turbulent period.
From 2019-2021, the Dream won a total of 23 games, had three head coaches and missed the playoffs in every season, which was the longest drought in franchise history.
Off the court, there was a contentious ownership situation with Kelly Loeffler, who eventually sold the team in 2021 after blowback for her stances on the Black Lives Matter movement. On the player side, Chennedy Carter was suspended for conduct detrimental to the team, and Courtney Williams and Crystal Bradford were involved in a fight outside of a club. None were retained.
"I've shared the things I've learned throughout my career, trying to pass that on to these younger players and being authentic," Wright told ESPN last year. "I'm not asking them to do anything that I haven't already done or dealt with, on all levels.
"I enjoy the development part of basketball. To me, it doesn't matter if they're young or they're vets, as long as they want to get better."
Wright helped turn Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray into All-Stars, and instilled a defensive-minded culture in Atlanta; the Dream finished in the top-six in defensive rating in each of her three seasons. Ultimately, however, there wasn't enough growth, particularly on the offensive side of the ball. Injuries didn't help, but the Dream had the worst offensive rating (96.6) in the league this season.
And so, after another sub-.500 season and first-round exit, it's no surprise that the Dream have decided to go in a different direction.
