“A lot of people are craving sports and craving something to get away from reality, to just be able to go watch a game and get away from it. I’m craving the opposite. I’m craving being a part of the movement and seeing the change.”
Renee Montgomery, a West Virginia native with 3 Girls State Basketball Championships, graduated from UConn as a 2 time All-American who played on an undefeated team that went on to win the NCAA championship in 2009. She was drafted 4th overall in the WNBA and is a 2 time WNBA Champion while also being named All-Star and 6th Woman of the Year in her 11-year professional career. In broadcasting, she serves as a sports analyst and host to numerous shows including her own weekly podcast “Montgomery & Co.” In February of 2021, Montgomery decided to retire after sitting out of the 2020 WNBA season to focus on social justice reform. That same year, she became co-owner and Vice President of the Atlanta Dream, making her the first WNBA player to become an owner and executive of a WNBA team.
Nationality: American
Industry: Sports Broadcasting and Activism
Q: What does it mean to lead this team [the Atlanta Dream] as a co-owner, especially as a Black woman? Marie Claire
A: “It’s everything to me. I take it seriously because I understand the magnitude of it. Not meaning the position that I’m in, but where this could go for other former athletes, women, Black women, men, any athlete. All of upper management in sports should have at least 50 percent of former players because who else would take better care of a brand that they gave their life to than a former athlete? As athletes, we grow up thinking about making it big and making it to the pros. So, once we’ve fulfilled our dream and played in the pros, of course we want to continue that legacy and have other little girls look up to us and want to play in the WNBA. Then, maybe one day they want to be a vice president or an owner. I take that role very seriously.”
