Dream realized: Montgomery set to supplant boss with WNBA team
ATLANTA — Former Atlanta Dream guard Renee Montgomery made history on Friday as part of a threemember investor group that was approved to purchase the WNBA team.
The ownership change follows pressure on former Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a Republican who angered WNBA players with her opposition to the league’s racial justice initiatives, to sell her share of the Dream. Atlanta players publicly supported Loeffler’s opponent, Raphael Warnock, who defeated Loeffler in a Senate runoff in Georgia.
Real estate investor Larry Gottesdiener was approved as majority owner of the team. The investor group also includes Montgomery and Suzanne Abair, president of Northland Investment Corp. in Massachusetts, the firm Gottesdiener founded.
Montgomery becomes the first former player to become both an owner and executive of a WNBA franchise. She said she would play an active role with Abair in the leadership of the team.
“I’m going to be working with Suzanne and she’s going to lead the way,” Montgomery said.
Montgomery said she first began considering her role in an ownership group after Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James tweeted about the possibility of being part of such a group.
James applauded Montgomery’s ownership role by posting on Twitter: “So proud of this Queen. This is everything we are about!”
Montgomery, 34, sat out the 2020 season to focus on social justice issues and recently announced her retirement from the league after 11 seasons and two WNBA championships (with the Minnesota Lynx in 2015 and ’17).