With the WNBA draft having concluded and the Atlanta Dream selecting Arizona Wildcats sensation Aari McDonald with the No. 3 overall pick, it looked as if all that was remaining for the Dream was training camp and preparation for the regular season.
The Dream will open the 2021 campaign at its new Gateway Center Arena home vs. the Connecticut Sun.
Unfortunately for one of Atlanta’s now-former executives, the Dream pulled over on that trek to the start of the season to make a major front office move by letting go of its general manager and team president Chris Sienko.
Sienko had spent the last four seasons in Atlanta and is a widely-respected executive within WNBA circles. He had spent over a decade in Connecticut before arriving in the ATL beginning with 2017.
The move, the first major front office shakeup to come under the Dream’s new ownership group of Larry Gottesdiener, Renee Montgomery and Suzanne Abair, is one that raised plenty of eyebrows. As for now, the Dream’s website lists Abair as the team’s new president with Montgomery listed as vice president.
In addition, Atlanta did not announce the departure of Sienko in a press release, but actually in a media availability session. As of now, the team has yet to announce a replacement, but given Sienko’s standing within WNBA circles, he could have a slew of job offers from other teams if he was so interested.
A big reason why the move raised so many eyebrows is because of the timing. Why would the Dream, a week removed from the draft, and roughly a week prior to the start of training camp, remove an individual regarded as one of the faces of Atlanta’s front office? Sienko was behind many of the moves the Dream made prior to the 2020 season in the Wubble – which included landing two ex-Sun in Courtney Williams and Shekinna Stricklen.
Also – there is this tweet courtesy of Kelsey Bone, who last played in the WNBA in 2018 for the Las Vegas Aces in their first season in Sin City.
I wish I could give y’all the back story to understand how beautiful this karma is! 😂😂😂 https://t.co/lc8oeuyS57
— Kelsey R. Bone (@kelseybone3) April 21, 2021
For context, Bone played for the Sun from 2014-16. That tweet obviously indicates she previously has a beef with Sienko that dates back to the Connecticut days. It also indicates that she is holding on to some hot tea that one of these days could get spilled…maybe.
The irony in the move also dates back to the 2018 free agent period. One of Sienko’s free agent signings during that time happened to be Montgomery herself after winning a pair of championships with the Minnesota Lynx under Cheryl Reeve. Montgomery used to be under Sienko. The ownership change flipped those roles.
Then – there is the Nicki Collen conundrum. When Sienko first left Connecticut in 2017, it was not long before Collen followed Sienko south on Interstate 95, then a detour on Interstate 20 before winding up in the Big Peach. Collen was an assistant with Connecticut and took over in Atlanta after the Dream let go of former coach “Showtime” Michael Cooper.
Collen’s first season in Atlanta was 2018 – the year which she was named the WNBA’s Coach of the Year.
But that year was also one in which Angel McCoughtry was healthy for much of said season before the semifinals. The Dream came within one win shy of a berth in the WNBA Finals in 2018 before being eliminated by the Washington Mystics in five games. Washington’s Elena Delle Donne was going through her own injury issues that series as well.
The 2018 and 2019 seasons were a key display of what Atlanta looks like as a team with and without McCoughtry. With McCoughtry, as was the case in 2018, the Dream look like championship contenders. Without McCoughtry, as was the case in 2019, Atlanta is a lottery team looking to rebuild through the draft.
In last year’s draft, the Dream had the fourth overall pick. After Sabrina Ionescu went first to the New York Liberty, Satou Sabally went second to the Dallas Wings and Lauren Cox went third to the Indiana Fever, the Dream looked to College Station and selected Texas A&M star Chennedy Carter with the fourth overall selection.
Ionescu’s unfortunate ankle injury she suffered in the third game of her WNBA career (ironically, against Carter and her Dream) put Hollywood in the driver’s seat to win Rookie of the Year in the Wubble. Carter as well was plagued by injury issues despite playing 16 games last season. The Rookie of the Year honors eventually went to Crystal Dangerfield, marking 2020 as the second consecutive season where the Rookie of the Year award was bestowed upon Minnesota Lynx after Napheesa Collier out of UConn won the award in 2019.
Speaking of 2019, it was also the year where the Dream were represented at the City of College Park awards which took place at the Georgia International Convention Center – which Gateway Center Arena is part of. Sienko and Montgomery repped the Dream at the awards show.
How the 2021 season turns out for a still-rebuilding Atlanta team may go a long way in determining in Collen herself may end up on the hot seat. And we would not be surprised if he decided to return to Connecticut (whether with the Sun or not) or to join his former boss, Amber Cox, at the Kansas City NWSL team. But our guess is one might as well dream on if they believe we have seen or heard the last of Chris Sienko.
