Power of the Dream is a powerful new documentary about how a group of women rallied together to become a force within their sport and spur political and social change.
Told through firsthand accounts and archival footage, Power of the Dream is just the femme-led excellence the doctor ordered. Better than a scripted project, these women are serving accounts from personal experience and we’re fortunate enough to replay those past events through the film.
Let me take you back to a magical time (sprinkle nostalgic sound effects) when everything at the Atlanta Dream HQ appeared fantastic and the staff had a great rapport with the press. The date was April 16, 2015, a little over nine years ago. It was draft night and the Dream wanted to give the press a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into draft choices and how they’re made. A novel gesture, a group of us obliged and we met at the Marriott Marquis in downtown Atlanta. Many of the first-rounders that year are now household names in the WNBA. Names like Jewell Loyd, Cheyenne Parker, Dearica Hamby, Kiah Stokes, Isabelle Harrison, and Elizabeth Williams (whose featured in the film). It was a fun night and a moment that stands out in my memory. Unbeknownst to us, one of the owners (pictured far right) would play a pivotal part in epic change for the league, the state of Georgia, and the country in the most shocking way imaginable.
“Players are pissed, people are mad,” Sue Bird began in her on-camera interview. “How can you redirect that energy?” Bird was an important part of the group as not only an NBA veteran but as an ally.
It’s the beginning of 2020 and the WNBA just locked into a brand new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the players. Things were getting bad, but the enormity of what was happening sunk in after the NBA suspended its season. So many seismic events were happening at once that life as we knew it seemed surreal. With everyone on lockdown and nothing to do but watch a screen, seemingly everyone on the planet saw George Floyd get murdered by police in Minneapolis, MN. Two more cases of police brutality with victims Ahmaud Arbery and Breona Taylor would exacerbate an already tumultuous relationship with law enforcement.
The WNBA players were already having discussions on what to do and how to approach the hailstorm of events that have taken place. Then Atlanta’s Angel McCoughtry came up with the idea of putting Breona Taylor on the backs of their jerseys.
The players were fortunate enough to get 100% of their pay after agreeing to a 22-game season played at IMG Academy. This would be the start of the theme often referred to as “The Bubble”, where an entire league would live and play games (without leaving the site) and undergo constant COVID-19 testing. It wasn’t long before fatigue started to set in as they were playing and training essentially nonstop, and to their chagrin, another shooting took place. This time, it was Jacob Blake.
If times weren’t crazy enough, one of Atlanta Dream’s owners, Kelly Loeffler, gets assigned a senate seat by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. With an unlimited budget (she was a portfolio manager whose husband owned the New York Stock Exchange) and a political platform, she immediately voiced her dismay with how the league was handling social justice, specifically the Black Lives Matter movement. The backlash was swift. Not only did a majority of the league disagree with her actions but the Atlanta Dream players conducted their own manner of protest. Collectively, the ladies devised a plan on how to handle her political aspirations and excommunicate her from the league.
For a group of professional women’s basketball players to take down a WNBA team owner is an incredible feat. Putting their support behind that owner’s political opponent, promoting him to relevancy, and seeing him elected via runoff election is the stuff of legend.
The inspirational documentary features interviews with Sue Bird, Nneka Ogwumike, Layshia Clarendon, Angel McCoughtry, Elizabeth Williams, Holly Rowe, Jemele Hill, and many more.
Tribeca schedule
Sunday, June 16 – 5:00 PM at AMC 19th St. East 6 | TICKETS
Power of the Dream gets a 9.5 out of 10. These women did something that we’ve never seen in professional sports and deserve their flowers right now. 2024 has been a great year for sports documentaries and this project will see the trend continue. If you’ve ever wondered if you can change the world with the people around you, you can. Because they did.
Power of the Dream will be available on Prime Video on June 18.
-Jon Jones
Photos: Courtesy of Prime Video