Dream close to being sold, taking Loeffler out of WNBA

Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., who was running for reelection, speaks to the media at Cobb County International Airport on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Kennesaw, Ga. (AP Photo/Branden Camp)

DOUG FEINBERG
Tue, January 19, 2021, 10:50 PM

The Atlanta Dream are close to being sold, ending defeated U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler's contentious stint as a WNBA owner.

“As it relates to the Atlanta Dream, we understand a sale of the franchise is close to being finalized,” the league said in a statement. “Once the sale negotiation is concluded, additional information will be provided.”

A person with knowledge of the situation said there are five groups that have expressed interest in buying the Dream and that the team was “finalizing its decision.” The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because none of those details had been revealed publicly by the team.


An Atlanta Dream spokeswoman said the team had no comment on the impending sale at this time.

Players around the league have called for Loeffler to sell her 49% stake in the Dream after she wrote a letter to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert over the summer objecting to the league’s initiatives to advocate for racial justice and the Black Lives Matter movement.

When Loeffler, a Republican appointed to her Senate seat by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, didn't immediately sell the team, WNBA players started to endorse and campaign for her opponent, Democrat Raphael Warnock, who defeated Loeffler in Georgia's runoff election on Jan. 5. That result, combined with Jon Ossoff's victory in a runoff for Georgia's other Senate seat, handed Democrats control of the Senate.

Warnock and Ossoff were set to be sworn in Wednesday, the same day President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, who will hold the tiebreaking vote in the 50-50 Senate, were inaugurated.

Loeffler, a wealthy businesswoman who had closely aligned herself with Trump, has been an owner of the Dream since 2011. She hadn't served as the franchise's representative to the league's Board of Governors since October 2019. She also wasn't involved in day-to-day business.

Text messages and phone calls to spokespeople for Loeffler’s campaign and Senate office were not immediately returned.

Mary and John Brock are the Dream's majority owners.

After Warnock won the runoff, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James tweeted a photo of Dream players wearing “Vote Warnock” shirts with the caption: “Think I’m gone put together an ownership group for the The Dream.”

Carmelo Anthony, Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts, actor Kevin Hart and former NFL player Champ Bailey all replied that they would be interested in helping to buy the team.

The Dream would be the second WNBA franchise sold this month. The Las Vegas Aces were bought, pending approval from the league's Board of Governors, by Raiders owner Mark Davis.
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This story has been corrected to show that Loeffler was appointed to the Senate by Gov. Brian Kemp, not President Donald Trump.
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AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds and Associated Press Writer Ben Nadler contributed to this report.
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More AP women's basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Chiney Ogwumike to executive

produce ESPN documentary 

on 2020 WNBA season

Ryan Young

·Writer

Tue, January 19, 2021, 7:29 PM

Chiney Ogwumike didn’t partake in the 2020 season inside the WNBA’s bubble in Florida, but she’s going to make sure the season will be remembered forever.

Ogwumike announced on Tuesday that she will serve as an executive producer on an upcoming ESPN Films documentary on the season.

Ogwumike has played four seasons in the league, three with the Connecticut Sun and one with the Los Angeles Sparks. The two-time All-Star and former No. 1 overall pick missed two full seasons due to a knee injury and an Achilles injury, however, and last played in 2019. She opted out of the 2020 season due to medical precautions related to COVID-19.

Ogwumike joined ESPN in 2017, working as a part-time WNBA and NBA analyst while still competing in the league. She took over hosting “Chiney and Golic Jr.,” alongside Mike Golic Jr., which made her the first Black woman to host a national daily sports radio show.

WNBA documentary to hit on social justice push

The league held a modified season at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, last summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That season, though, was overshadowed by a large social justice moment across the country — one that players across the league helped lead.

The documentary, based on the clip Ogwumike shared, will center around that and the players’ involvement in the Georgia Senate race. Players, especially the Atlanta Dream players, took a stand against Dream co-owner and Senator Kelly Loeffler — who was very open with her support for President Donald Trump and criticisms of the Black Lives Matter movement. The team openly supported Loeffler’s opponent in the race during the season, too.

Loeffler eventually lost her race in a runoff election to Sen. Raphael Warnock, and is reportedly planning to sell her stake in the team.

“When it came to what the WBBA players were doing, it always takes me back to what my mom has told me: Tiny drops of water make a mighty ocean,” Ogwumike said on ESPN on Tuesday. “Well, the WNBA players have been doing the work consistently, day by day, especially the last few seasons. Now people are seeing the vast nature of that work coming together.”

Chiney Ogwumike to executive 

produce ESPN documentary 

on 2020 WNBA season

Ryan Young

·Writer

Tue, January 19, 2021, 7:29 PM

Chiney Ogwumike didn’t partake in the 2020 season inside the WNBA’s bubble in Florida, but she’s going to make sure the season will be remembered forever.

Ogwumike announced on Tuesday that she will serve as an executive producer on an upcoming ESPN Films documentary on the season.

Ogwumike has played four seasons in the league, three with the Connecticut Sun and one with the Los Angeles Sparks. The two-time All-Star and former No. 1 overall pick missed two full seasons due to a knee injury and an Achilles injury, however, and last played in 2019. She opted out of the 2020 season due to medical precautions related to COVID-19.

Ogwumike joined ESPN in 2017, working as a part-time WNBA and NBA analyst while still competing in the league. She took over hosting “Chiney and Golic Jr.,” alongside Mike Golic Jr., which made her the first Black woman to host a national daily sports radio show.

WNBA documentary to hit on social justice push

The league held a modified season at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, last summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That season, though, was overshadowed by a large social justice moment across the country — one that players across the league helped lead.

The documentary, based on the clip Ogwumike shared, will center around that and the players’ involvement in the Georgia Senate race. Players, especially the Atlanta Dream players, took a stand against Dream co-owner and Senator Kelly Loeffler — who was very open with her support for President Donald Trump and criticisms of the Black Lives Matter movement. The team openly supported Loeffler’s opponent in the race during the season, too.

Loeffler eventually lost her race in a runoff election to Sen. Raphael Warnock, and is reportedly planning to sell her stake in the team.

“When it came to what the WBBA players were doing, it always takes me back to what my mom has told me: Tiny drops of water make a mighty ocean,” Ogwumike said on ESPN on Tuesday. “Well, the WNBA players have been doing the work consistently, day by day, especially the last few seasons. Now people are seeing the vast nature of that work coming together.”

ESPN analyst Chiney Ogwumike is working on an upcoming documentary on the WNBA's bubble season last summer. (Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images)