The Atlanta Hawks are heading to the WNBA Finals! Visually. In factuality, the Atlanta Dream made history on Friday night. Dream is heading to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2013. The Peach State has had a taste of the pinnacle of basketball glory through both its representative teams multiple times. It’s just that the Hawks have not been close to a Finals series since 1961. So when the current franchise cornerstone, Jalen Johnson, was randomly in a Dream graphic celebrating their accomplishment, fans had something to say.
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But first, the Atlanta Dream deserved props for completing a dramatic three-game playoff sweep over the New York Liberty with an 85-83 road victory at Barclays Center. Anchored by a 22-point, nine-rebound performance from newly-crowned DPOY, Angel Reese and clutch late-game execution from Jordin Canada and DeWanna Bonner, the Dream clinched their first WNBA Finals appearance in 13 years.
The historic milestone sets up an epic championship matchup against the second-seeded Golden State Valkyries, who completed their own sweep of the A’ja Wilson-led Las Vegas Aces in overtime.
As celebrations erupted across Atlanta for the city’s WNBA contenders, the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks jumped on social media to congratulate their cross-town counterparts. The Hawks’ official X account published a promotional graphic featuring the bold text “DREAM ON…TO THE WNBA FINALS.”
That was well and good until you see the accompanying graphic. Instead of centering the image exclusively on Reese, Rhyne Howard, Allisha Gray, or head coach Karl Smesko, the graphic prominently placed Hawks star forward Jalen Johnson alongside guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker amid the Dream’s roster.
As anyone except the Hawks’ digital media team saw coming, the decision to splice NBA players into a graphic celebrating a women’s team reaching the pinnacle of their sport backfired instantly.
It couldn’t have been at a more opportune time either. The Dream recently secured a multi-year lease to play all home games at State Farm Arena, the home of the Hawks, starting in 2027. WNBA fans have been campaigning for the Dream to share State Farm Arena long before that. So this graphic has basketball fans calling out the awkward, unforced error that attempted to latch onto the Dream’s hard-earned moment.
Fans torch Atlanta Hawks’ unnecessary crossover into WNBA
Following the Hawks’ bizarre promotional graphics choices celebrating the Dream’s historic victory, the fanbase erupted in the comments with a heated backlash.
Outraged WNBA supporters wasted no time calling out the franchise for what many perceived as shameless clout-chasing: “You goofies really included the Hawks on this image. Zero shame.”
While some questioned why male NBA players who have struggled to make deep playoff runs were even featured, demanding, “WHY THE MEN ON THE POSTER?? 😂😂😂😂😂😂” others didn’t hold back on demanding, “Get the b– a– Hawks off this graphic.”
The confusion quickly gained momentum across comment sections. Stunned by the front-and-center placement of Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker over WNBA finalists, another fan questioned the absurdity of the roster crossover “Jalen Johnson and nickiel being here is hilarious 😭”.
And it left the Hawks wide open for direct shot at the team’s recent postseason record with, “these play-in merchants think they part of the program.”
Pointing directly to the obvious double standard in media coverage between the two franchises, several fans questioned if the courtesy would ever be returned, asking, “i don’t remember the dream on the graphic when the hawks went to the playoffs last year ?”
Others expressed utter confusion at how the graphic ever received final approval from team administrators, asking, “I must’ve missed a chapter when did you guys advance ??”
Another fan wondered if the NBA players were being inserted as fan ambassadors, “Umm, why are there Hawks in the graphic? Are they going to be there courtside as spectators?”
Pleading for the team’s social media operator to take down the post and replace it with a proper tribute to the WNBA squad, one user simply posted, “Man if y’all don’t fix this damn graphic 🤣🤣🤣”
Despite the online roasting directed at the Hawks’ social media department, the city of Atlanta remains fully focused on the Dream as they prepare to open Game 1 of the 2026 WNBA Finals against Golden State on October 17 at Chase Center.