For the first time ever, in any professional sports league, there will be an all-Black female broadcast team for the 2021 WNBA season.
Earlier this week it was announced that the historic quartet of LaChina Robinson, Tabitha Turner, Angel Gray and Autumn Johnson will helm the broadcast booth for the Atlanta Dream.
Atlanta Dream co-owner and vice president Renee Montgomery had this to say about the historic move:
“As the Atlanta Dream experiences new beginnings, we are extremely excited to announce our new broadcast team for the 2021 season. “This broadcast team of all women is another positive step in our goal of providing empowerment to the very diverse Atlanta community. It’s exciting knowing that moments such as these will create momentum, and we plan to keep that and level of energy moving forward.”
LaChina Robinson
Robinson, who was the Dream’s primary color analyst for the team’s first 11 seasons, is the most experienced. She was a four-year starter at Wake Forest and is now an award-winning basketball analyst entering her 14th season of coverage. She comes back to the Dream from ESPN.
Robinson says when Montgomery reached out about a return back to familiar confines, it was a no-brainer for her.
Angel Gray
Gray, returns to the Dream after serving as their sideline reporter and color commentator on 2015 and 2016. She played at Florida State and has covered the WNBA, NBA, and college hoops for various national and regional networks.
Gray says she excited to see the team on and floor and how they continue their upward trend in the Atlanta community.
Tabitha Turner
Turner, is also a former college baller, who played at nearby Georgia Tech. She graduated from Tech in 2010 and her broadcasting career took off in Atlanta.
While she worked as a traffic operations engineer for several years, she has simultaneously done color commentary for Georgia Tech’s women’s basketball as well as covering ACC men’s and women’s basketball, the Georgia Swarm professional lacrosse team and, in 2017 and 2018 the Dream.
https://youtu.be/EAoVOB3ZDM0
Turner says she’s just happy to be along for the ride.
Following their move of solidarity in response to former owner and former Georgia Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler’s comments, which downplayed and completely disregarded the Black Lives Matter movement, The Atlanta Dream players and their WNBA sisters decided to jump knee-deep in the political game in order to make a change.
READ MORE: Kelly Loeffler’s Politics Don’t Jive With WNBA’s Black Lives Matter Initiatives
Loeffler went against her players in order to die on a political hill with former President Trump. The WNBA rallied around her opponent for Senator, Robert Warnock and elevated him to a run-off victory, ousting Loeffler from office.
READ MORE: WNBA Community Changes Course Of History In Electing Georgia’s First Black Senator
In the aftermath, Loeffler lost her senate seat and was forced to sell the team. The Atlanta Dream, under a new ownership group that includes former player Renee Montgomery, has brought a new culture to the franchise.
Autumn Johnson
Johnson, a host and sideline reporter for the NBA 2K League and the winner of the 2020 GameHERS ESCORTS Top Analyst of the Year award, joins the Dream for the first time.
She’s also the women’s college basketball digital beat reporter for NCAA Digital. The Georgia native says she’s looking forward to joining the Dream’s broadcast team for Friday’s opening night.
Johnson says the Dream was the first professional team she covered when she began her broadcasting career. So it feels like it’s come full-circle.
The Dream host the Connecticut Sun in one of four opening night games. But because of league protocols, the Dream will not be able to welcome fans back at full capacity until June. But the games will be televised, with four talented BLACK female broadcasters calling the action.
The WNBA is #144Strong.
