This week on The IX Sports Podcast Basketball Edition, hosts Jackie Powell and Howard Megdal walk listeners through the 2026 WNBA Finals.
The Atlanta Dream dominated Game 3 of the Finals, and Dream beat reporter Michael Waterloo joined the show to talk about how and why.
One big answer? Angel Reese and the work she has put in since joining the Dream. Powell asked Waterloo to provide more context for how Reese has grown since joining the Dream. Waterloo said that it is the “want,” or drive, of Reese, that has been so key.
“So it is that just that want for Angel Reese because it would have been very easy for her to come here and just coast off of her elite rebounding that she has, coast off of her interior defense that she has, but she wanted to become a well-rounded player,” Waterloo said.
Game 3, Powell said, was a “complete game” for Atlanta, in that Reese, Rhyne Howard Naz Hillmon, Jordin Canada and rookie Izzy Borlase all scored in double figures. Waterloo agreed.
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“It really felt like the Dream just reached their final form in Game Three, just with all the contributions they had, every single thing that got them to the WNBA Finals, we saw live in living color during Game Three,” Waterloo said.
Then, Powell and Megdal turned to a discussion of the Golden Valkyries, who won Game 1, but lost Games 2 and 3.
“For all of their talking points about depth, they’ve yet to shoot better than 35% in a single game in this series,” Megdal said. “And so when you take the totality of it … it’s simply not enough, not enough.”
Powell agreed, saying that the Dream seem “malleable,” in that they can make adjustments.
“I just, I see this Golden State Valkyries team as just not really knowing what to do when Plan A isn’t available,” Powell said.
In Court Vision, Powell and Megdal discussed the record viewership of Game 1 of the WNBA Finals this year, and what the markets involved and WNBA media deals may have to do with it. Be sure to tune in to this episode before Game 4 on Saturday!
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