Current:Home > MyEngaged Sun teammates Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner find work-life balance in the WNBA-InfoLens
Engaged Sun teammates Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner find work-life balance in the WNBA
View Date:2024-12-23 11:53:22
UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — DeWanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas have found a comfortable work-life balance in the WNBA.
They are the unquestioned leaders of the Connecticut Sun on the court and life partners off of it.
Behind their combined scoring average of 32 points, Connecticut has won its first nine games of the season. On Saturday, the Sun host second-place New York (9-2) on national television.
“They really are the heart and soul of this franchise,” coach Stephanie White said. “You think about not just what they do, on a day-to-day basis, but the consistency with which they’ve done it since they’ve been here. They’ve raised the level of intensity in practice every day.”
Bonner is averaging 19.1 points. The five-time All Star moved into fifth place on the WNBA’s career scoring list during a season-opening victory over Indiana, passing former wife Candice Dupree off an assist from Thomas.
Thomas, a four-time All-Star, leads the WNBA with 8.8 assists a game. She had her 12th triple-double in the opener against the Fever.
Since becoming teammates in 2020, Bonner and Thomas have led Connecticut to three WNBA semifinals and the 2022 Finals.
Off the court, they have a wedding to plan — well, they will at some point. They began dating during the pandemic and became engaged late season during the All-Star break.
“Clearly we share different connections, off the court and on the court,” Thomas said. “I feel like it just translates.”
But basketball, at least for now, comes first.
A WNBA championship this season would be the third for the 36-year-old Bonner, who won two with the Phoenix Mercury, but the first for the 32-year-old Thomas. Bonner is in her 15th year in the league and Thomas her 11th.
Bonner and Thomas decided to put their wedding plans on hold as Thomas works toward her goal of making the Olympic team and playing in the Paris Games this summer.
“That’s a once in a lifetime experience,” Bonner said. “And that’s something that is like set in stone on a date, and a wedding can be adjusted. So this is her time. I want her to have that attention and we focus on the wedding later.”
Teammates say the two have very different leadership styles, with Thomas being the more assertive on the court, and Bonner being the more loquacious off the court. Thomas was ejected for a hard foul she committed against Caitlin Clark on May 25.
But both, Olivia Nelson-Ododa said, demand the attention and respect of younger players.
“Their leadership, I mean, you really can’t put into words just how dynamic it is,” third-year center Nelson-Ododa said. “You have both of them with just so much experience and them working together and then also just leading us. I mean, it makes us want to step out, step up our game and ... make sure that we’re on page with them. That we know exactly what we’re doing when we step on the court with them because they expect so much of us.”
Bonner, the mother of 6-year-old twin daughters Cali and Demi, hasn’t said whether this will be her last season. But she and Thomas, who will both be free agents after this season, have no plans to retire at the same time and aren’t committed to staying on the same team forever.
“We both have our own individual careers and we do what’s best for ourselves,” Thomas said. “So none of that ‘us being together’ factors into it.”
In fact, sharing both a home and work life can be difficult, Thomas and Bonner acknowledged.
“It’s a gift and a curse right?” Bonner said. “Because there’s time that we go at it and we’re competitors. So there’s times that we do bump heads on the court. But once we walk off the court, you know, outside of those lines, that’s it about basketball. But on the court, I just feel like she knows me. I know her. She makes me better. She makes my job easier.”
___ WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
veryGood! (382)
Related
- Biden funded new factories and infrastructure projects, but Trump might get to cut the ribbons
- North Korean and Russian officials discuss economic ties as Seoul raises labor export concerns
- All 3 couples to leave 'Bachelor in Paradise' Season 9 announce breakups days after finale
- Delta passengers stranded at remote military base after flight diverted to Canada
- Tony Todd, star of 'Candyman,' 'Final Destination,' dies at 69
- Man arrested in Washington state after detective made false statements gets $225,000 settlement
- Former Iowa police officer sentenced to 15 years for exploiting teen in ride-along program
- Sports Illustrated publisher Arena Group fires CEO following AI controversy
- Are Dancing with the Stars’ Jenn Tran and Sasha Farber Living Together? She Says…
- Michigan prosecutors to outline case against false Trump electors in first hearing
Ranking
- A pair of Trump officials have defended family separation and ramped-up deportations
- This 28-year-old from Nepal is telling COP28: Don't forget people with disabilities
- Why are there NFL games on Saturday? How to watch Saturday's slate of games.
- Football player Matt Araiza dropped from woman’s rape lawsuit and won’t sue for defamation
- Young Black and Latino men say they chose Trump because of the economy and jobs. Here’s how and why
- Attacks on health care are on track to hit a record high in 2023. Can it be stopped?
- Pregnant Bhad Bhabie Reveals Sex of Her First Baby
- Gifts for the Go-Getters, Trendsetters & People Who Are Too Busy to Tell You What They Want
Recommendation
-
The Bachelorette's Desiree Hartsock Gives Birth, Welcomes Baby No. 3 With Chris Siegfried
-
Suicide attacker used 264 pounds of explosives to target police station in Pakistan, killing 23
-
ExxonMobil says it will stay in Guyana for the long term despite territorial dispute with Venezuela
-
Teen fatally shot as he drove away from Facebook Marketplace meetup: Reports
-
2 more escaped monkeys recaptured and enjoying peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in South Carolina
-
Hilary Duff announces she's pregnant with baby No. 4: 'Buckle up buttercups'
-
Ambush kills 7 Israeli soldiers in Gaza City, where battles rage weeks into devastating offensive
-
DeSantis goes after Trump on abortion, COVID-19 and the border wall in an Iowa town hall