‘Mama bear’ DeWanna Bonner has seen it all, will show WNBA title-contending Fever the way

INDIANAPOLIS — Bounding up the stairs to the Fever practice gym on the first day of training camp Sunday, Kelsey Mitchell seemed ecstatic.

Not just for her eighth season in a Fever jersey, but for some of the new players around her — including 15-year veteran DeWanna Bonner, who joined the team via free agency this offseason.

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“I got DB, I got the best vet in the world!” Mitchell shouted toward the camera, both her and Bonner flexing in the hallway.

It’s a different experience for Mitchell, who is used to being the veteran as the longest-tenured player on the roster. She has been with the Fever since she was drafted No. 2 overall in 2018 as has nearly always been regarded as the veteran of the young group.

Now, she has her own veterans to lean on this season.

“I think for us, with the new atmosphere, the new coaches, everything new, it feels really good,” Mitchell said. “It feels fresh. Kind of like when you take your clothes out the dryer, it feels fresh. It feels different, and it feels good, because we got new players, we got vet leadership, so I think all that combined just makes for a good atmosphere.”

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And Bonner, a well-traveled player who holds the WNBA playoff game appearance record, is one of the best veterans out there.

She was drafted to Phoenix with the No. 5 overall pick and played the first 10 years of her career in the desert, winning championships in 2009 and ‘14. She was traded to Connecticut in 2020, playing for the Sun for five years.

She played under now-Fever coach Stephanie White in 2023 and ‘24, and the pair led the Sun to the WNBA semifinals each season. Then, much to White’s delight, Bonner came to Indianapolis, too.

“She’s experienced a lot of different things,” White said. “Whether it’s teammates, playing with some of the best in the world, franchises, coaches, all of those things. Just having her wisdom, having her knowledge, having her mama bear personality, it’s so important because she understands how to hold you accountable, but how to love on you too.”

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Bonner is near the top of more league records, too. She is fourth all-time on the career scoring list with 7,482 points, overtaking Fever legend Tamika Catchings’ 7,380 last season; 10th in defensive rebounds with 2,446; and third in games played with 502.

Following her former teammate Diana Taurasi’s retirement, Bonner is the longest-tenured active player in the league.

Bonner knows what it takes to win, both in the regular season and in the postseason. She is a longtime veteran, a longtime leader. It doesn’t matter Bonner is on a new team for the first time in six years, either. She will always embody that leadership quality; that started even before training camp.

“If you only knew how many text messages I got, like ‘What is practice going to be like? What is practice going to be like?'” Bonner said with a laugh. “… I got a lot of text messages the night before, trying to understand Steph and what it takes, and like I said, this team wants to be better, this team wants to be great.”

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Bonner was exactly the type of veteran this young Fever team needs to take that next step into championship contention. Indiana had a lot of talent last season with All-Stars Mitchell, Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark leading the way. The Fever improved to with a 20-20 record and its first playoff berth since 2016, but they were swept by the Sun in the first round.

But they were missing one key piece. Indiana didn’t have that bonafide leader, that veteran player who knows what it takes to win a championship.

Now, the Fever have that guiding light in Bonner. And they want to give her a third ring.

“She’s been tremendous not only as a leader, but she’s a tremendous basketball player, too,” Clark said. “She’s won championships, she knows what it is, so when she speaks, everybody listens. I think that was a piece of the thing that we were missing last year, we didn’t really have that inside of our locker room, so I’m just really grateful for that, just the way she talks and she leads. For me, as a second-year point guard, I want to win for her. This is the end of her career, and she deserves it.”

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: DeWanna Bonner’s championship experience just what Indiana Fever needs