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DeWanna Bonner signed with the Indiana Fever this past offseason, joining a talented young team on the rise, starring Caitlin Clark, one of the biggest draws in sports right now. It was thought at the time that Bonner could be the missing veteran piece to help the group coalesce and take the next step toward contention, but things didn’t quite work out that way.
When Bonner sat out games, expressed her dissatisfaction with the situation, and eventually left the Fever, there were murmurs around the media that she was disgruntled with her role coming off the bench. When it became rumored that she would sign with the Phoenix Mercury, a contending team with two All-Stars, Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally, already starting at the forward spots, many wondered how she would fit in.
According to the Associated Press, the former three-time Sixth Player of the Year says that coming off the bench was never the issue, which shouldn’t come as a surprise given how well she’s played off the bench in the past. “That wasn’t ever the issue, that’s never been me,” she said. “I have no problems coming off the bench. I have never been that player. I don’t feel like I have that reputation.”
Since her return to Phoenix, where she spent the first 10 years of her legendary WNBA career, she has slotted into her old role as the first player off the bench, just like she did in her first three seasons in the W (she won Sixth Player of the Year in all three years).
In five games, she’s started just once, pressed into the team’s first five because of the injury issues plaguing the team at the time. And there’s been nothing to suggest that she’s uncomfortable with her current role.
Bonner has expressed that she’s been happy with her return to the desert. “Getting back to Phoenix after so long, the love and the welcome that I had was very much needed and appreciated,” she said.
The WNBA’s all-time third-leading scorer is back in a familiar environment and has been thriving, scoring 13.4 points per game, compared to just 7.1 a night during her nine-game stint in Indiana, and knocking down 40% of her threes.
For Phoenix fans, it’s just like it’s 2011 again, with Bonner checking in at the scorer’s table midway through the first quarter and getting buckets like she always has.
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