ATLANTA – Jordin Canada is probably the fastest player on the court. She's always had the speed throughout her career, even when she won her two championships with the Seattle Storm.

Now, she's using that same speed to try to help the Atlanta Dream defeat the Golden State Valkyries in the WNBA Finals.

“We really want to win this; we want to win it for the city,” Canada told ClutchPoints before the series. “We want to win it for each other, and I think we just had that mentality that after FIBA break, we have to be playing our best basketball, and I think that's what we've been doing.”

Jordan has undoubtedly turned up her level of play in the postseason, and she was the main catalyst for the Dream sweeping the New York Liberty in the semifinals. Whether it was driving down the court after the inbound and beating all the Liberty players to the basket for a layup, stealing the ball after a lazy pass to turn it into points, or knocking down big 3-pointers, Canada was everywhere.

Her impact has been different from when she won the title in 2018 (her rookie season), and in 2020, when she was playing behind basketball Hall of Famer Sue Bird. Nonetheless, the same rules apply, and what she learned from those teams has helped her lead the Dream this far.

“I was in a different role during that time of winning championships, but the biggest thing was being consistent, staying ready, and knowing your role and doing a job,” Canada said. “Now, being in a different position, being a vet… It's all about the consistency and making sure that you're doing the things that are gonna impact your team. Your strengths, not getting too high, not getting too low, and then also staying ready.”

As much (or as fast) as Canada runs up and down the court, she's programmed herself to believe that she's not tired. It was on full display in Game 2 of the semifinals, and she was caught courtside telling herself she wasn't tired.

“I think it was maybe two minutes left in the game, and there was one possession where we did get a stop, but I didn't run down the court,” Canada said. “I was still behind, and everybody was down in the court. I remember we were coming back for a defensive possession; it was a dead ball, and I had to tell myself, ‘I'm not tired,' because I'm not gonna come out.

“I told myself about five, six times, I'm not tired. And it worked. Self-talk is really important when it comes down to those types of things because if I were to just give in to my fatigue, you never know what could have happened.”

Jordin Canada is reaping the benefits of her faith

Canada has stayed ready for this moment, but there have been things that held her back over the course of her time with the Dream: injuries. In her first year with the team, she only played 20 games due to a hand injury that forced her to miss the start of the season.

Last season, she was injured during the preseason and missed the first seven games, then missed eight games in August after suffering a hamstring injury.

This season was completely different, and she had one thing that she could rely on.

“I believe God's timing is everything. I've been really big on my faith,” Canada said. “I’ve been faithful to Him, and leaning on Him in times of adversity, or even my times of success, and just giving Him glory and praise for all that I have accomplished this year, and being blessed. I think it's just a testament to that. I've battled a lot in these last two years with injuries and things off the court that people didn't know that I was dealing with.”

Canada was able to start the season healthy this year, and played in all 43 games for the Dream.

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“I think I'm reaping the benefits of staying faithful to Him, and trusting Him, and believing in the process, and I think this year, it’s just being consistent, resilient, and trusting the hard work that I've put in, but also just leaning on Him,” Canada said.

Canada isn't the only one who's been relying on her faith. Earlier in the season, Angel Reese noted that it was about 12 players on the team who attend chapel before the game. Canada isn't one of those dozen because she's warming up during that time, but she believes it's big that most of the team are not shy about what they believe in.

“I make sure I always take time to pray before the game and just thank God for me being here,” Canada said. “There are a lot of people that want to be in my position and be in our positions, and just thanking Him for getting us here, for keeping us healthy, it’s just really big.

“When you lean on Him, and you thank Him for all that He has done and all He has given me and blessed me with in my life, you reap the benefits of His glory. So just trying to continue to do that. But it's really nice to have other people that are big in their faith and leaning on him.”

Now, Canada is set out to do something that WNBA players thrive to accomplish every season, and that's to win a championship. They're two wins away, and if the Dream guard keeps using her speed, they could win it in no time.