Brittney Griner Hit With Troubling Update on Saturday

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Paolo Songco | Last updated Aug 2, 2025 8:57 PM ET

The Atlanta Dream are looking to make it three straight wins on Sunday when they return to action in a home game against the Washington Mystics.

The Dream enter Sunday’s matchup with a 17-11 record and third in the league. They are, however, just half a game behind the defending champions, the New York Liberty, for the No. 2 spot, which means that a win on Sunday could see Atlanta surpass the Liberty in the standings.

New York is in action on Sunday as well against the league-worst Connecticut Sun, but the Liberty are in the midst of a four-game losing streak.

Atlanta Dream Get Tough Break on Brittney Griner

The bad news for the Dream is that they will be without one of their best players on Sunday against the Mystics. This is after nine-time All-Star Brittney Griner was officially ruled out from the matchup due to a neck injury.

This report comes via USA TODAY’s Meghan H. Hall on X.

Brittney Griner (neck) is OUT tomorrow against the Mystics.
— Meghan L. Hall (@ItsMeghanLHall) August 2, 2025

This will be Griner’s second game out after being forced to sit out Friday’s 95-72 victory against her former team, the Phoenix Mercury. The 6-foot-9 center missed out on the opportunity to play against some of her former teammates on Sunday and against the Mercury, which is the same team she suited up for in the past 11 seasons.

At this point, the Dream have not provided a firm timetable on Griner’s return. The silver lining, though, is that Atlanta gets three days off before its next game. Depending on how her recovery progresses, Griner could potentially make her comeback on Thursday against the Chicago Sky.

Griner’s Production Has Taken a Significant Dip

Griner took her talents to Atlanta this offseason after parting ways with the Mercury. She put pen to paper on a one-year deal with the Dream worth $214,466, making Atlanta only the second team she’s played for in the WNBA since entering the league as the first-overall pick in 2013.

Griner’s numbers, however, have dipped significantly now that she’s in her 12th WNBA season. In 25 games played for the Dream thus far, the 34-year-old has averaged career-low marks across the board with 10.6 points on 51.4% shooting, 5.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 23.3 minutes per contest.

Nevertheless, there’s no denying that Griner remains one of the Dream’s key players and that she will play a pivotal role in what Atlanta is hoping will be a deep playoff run this season.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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