Rhyne Howard has been tearing up the WNBA in July
You don’t want to make Rhyne Howard angry. She’s at her best when the doubters come out from the shadows. That’s been the case ever since she was initially left off the 2023 WNBA All-Star Game roster.
Howard, the former Kentucky women’s basketball superstar turned No. 1 draft pick by the Atlanta Dream, has been on an absolute tear during the month of July. Now in her second WNBA season, Howard is building off her Rookie of the Year winning campaign from 2022 with an even better run in 2023.
Through eight games played in July for the Dream, the 6-foot-2 guard is averaging 23.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.9 steals in 34.3 minutes per game. Howard is doing so on shooting splits of 45.0/40.0/82.9. She kicked off this incredible run with a career-high 43 points on July 2 and has scored at least 15 points in every game since, including a 32-point outing on July 9. She’s dropped at least 21 points over her last three contests, as well.
Atlanta is 6-2 during this stretch after starting the season 6-8.
This month is just another impressive chapter in what has been a storybook beginning for Howard’s professional career. Although the Dream lost its most recent game on Saturday — an 8-point defeat to the Connecticut Sun — she was still making history. Howard became the second-ever WNBA player to record a stat line of at least 20 points, four made three-pointers, six rebounds, two assists, two steals, and four blocks.
How about some more Howard fun facts? She’s hit at least three triples in all eight games this month. Her 149 career made three-pointers put her third all-time in Dream franchise history. Additionally, she’s now just two triples away from setting the record for most made threes by any player in league history through their first two seasons.
After being inexplicably left off the 2023 WNBA All-Star Game roster, Howard was rightfully added as an injury reserve replacement for Washington Mystics forward Elena Delle Donne. This was the second All-Star appearance in as many seasons for Howard, who played 15 minutes for Team Wilson last weekend in Las Vegas, finishing with 16 points, three rebounds, and three assists with four made triples.
The Dream has three more games left in July. A Player of the Month award could be on the way for the former Wildcat if she can finish strong in the last week.
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