April 21, 2021
Chris Sienko out as Dream president and GM
What we know about Atlanta's front office on eve of training camp
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After coming to the Atlanta Dream as general manager in November 2017 and being promoted to president a year later, Chris Sienko is no longer a member of the Dream’s front office.
“The Dream and Chris Sienko have parted ways,” the team said in a statement provided to The Associated Press on Wednesday. “We thank Chris for his contributions.”
Sienko declined comment to The Next on Wednesday afternoon. The team plans to begin a search by hiring a firm, a source familiar with Atlanta’s plans tells The Next.
The move leaves head coach Nicki Collen as, potentially, a primary decision-maker on player personnel questions, something she already spent plenty of time doing as a key part of Sienko’s evaluation process.
Suzanne Abair, who is the president of the real estate investment firm Northland that Gottesdiener founded, lists herself as president of the Dream on her LinkedIn profile.
Many around the league expressed surprise that the Dream would make a change just a few days following the 2021 WNBA Draft, and with training camp set to begin this coming weekend.
Prior to joining the Dream, Sienko spent 14 years as the vice president and general manager of the Connecticut Sun. Under his guidance, the Sun became the first profitable franchise in WNBA history.
Sienko was named the WNBA’s Executive of the Year in 2018, and Atlanta reached the WNBA semifinals that season. But the Dream did not reach the postseason in 2019 or 2020, the latter a year filled with controversy sparked by the comments of then-owner Kelly Loeffler.
In February, the Dream were sold to an ownership group including Larry Gottesdiener and recently retired Dream player Renee Montgomery. Sienko brought Montgomery to Atlanta as a free agent in 2018 in one of his first player moves as GM.
Howard Megdal contributed reporting to this story.
