Naz Hillmon and Rhyne Howard are living up to the hype.
Many basketball fans crowned the Atlanta Dream as winners of the 2022 WNBA Draft after trading up to No. 1 to select Rhyne Howard and snagging Naz Hillmon at No. 15 on the draft. Both Hillmon and Howard were the best players in their college programs’ histories and made numerous All-American teams while in school.
In the WNBA, Howard has had one of the hottest starts to a career in league history and has been rewarded with a trip to the All-Star Game. While Hillmon didn’t get much playing time at the beginning of the season, she’s recently been inserted into the team’s rotation and has developed a reliable corner three-pointer, one of her biggest issues while playing at Michigan. Now officially at the All-Star break, Howard and Hillmon stopped by rolling out and spoke about their WNBA experiences.
How has your rookie year been so far leading up to the All-Star break?
Howard: I feel confident. I feel like we’re in a good situation where we are. And it’s just a great learning experience for us.
Hillmon: Definitely, we’ve learned a lot. There’s a lot of that information that we can definitely use in the second half, whether that’s [about] the teams we’re going to be playing or just what we learned about ourselves.
Naz, how does it feel to get in the rotation and begin to find your footing in the league?
Hillmon: Yeah, it’s been nice. I think this definitely helped me to grow my game and just like being more comfortable. With more minutes, I feel like I’m able to see what spots I’m most comfortable in and where I can help my teammates. It’s all about the reps.
Rhyne, you got off to a hot start this season but played a lot of minutes. Your minutes have come down since then, but how does your body feel?
Howard: I’m good.
Fellow All-Star Dearica Hamby was talking about how tired her legs were from all the minutes she played earlier in the season. How do you feel?
Howard: I mean, yeah, I’m tired, but you just have to be tough. That’s what this league’s all about, that’s what our culture is. It’s big on toughness. So it could be worse, but I’m alright.
— Atlanta Dream (@AtlantaDream) July 6, 2022
You both have on Erica Wheeler jerseys tonight. Why is that?
Hillmon: Well, we try to coordinate our game day [out]fits. We wanted to do this one. We really like to mess with E, so we decided to get her jersey and just support her brand “Don’t Settle, Be Great.” That’s where this came from.
How has it been experiencing your rookie year together?
Howard: It’s been great. We talk all the time. I don’t think I would have been able to do this with any other rookie. So having this connection and having this relationship we have … you don’t find this everywhere.
