Inside the Boca training camp that spurred the Dream's WNBA Finals run — SkimNews
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- Atlanta Dream held a mini training camp in Boca Raton, Florida during the 17-day FIBA World Cup break, with intense practices at Florida Atlantic University and scrimmages against male practice players
- The Dream have won 10 of 11 games since the Boca trip; their Game 2 victory over the Golden State Valkyries tied the best-of-seven WNBA Finals 1-1
- Atlanta's 10 consecutive wins entering the Finals matched the 2017 Los Angeles Sparks for the longest pre-Finals win streak in WNBA history
- DeWanna Bonner, a 17-year veteran who signed with Atlanta on Aug. 27 after a Phoenix Mercury buyout, used the Boca camp to learn coach Karl Smesko's terminology and system before playing meaningful minutes
- Naz Hillmon proposed the Boca trip before Bonner's arrival; off-court bonding included beach time, an 18-hole golf outing, and a WNBA trivia contest organized by GM Dan Padover
- Veterans Jordin Canada (two-time Seattle Storm champion), Bonner, and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough — with five combined titles at previous stops — shared championship experience with first-time Finals players Angel Reese, Rhyne Howard, and Hillmon
Why it matters: Smesko weaponized a league-wide disruption — the 17-day FIBA break — as a competitive edge, and the resulting 10-game streak (matching the 2017 Sparks) has Atlanta tied in the Finals three wins from a championship for a roster that hadn't advanced past the first round since 2018.
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