By admin 
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – A few years ago, when Jonquel Jones was in the midst of her rise to stardom, she was well aware that she was in a unique place and time.
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The Connecticut Sun, she said in an interview with The Hartford Courant in 2019, was “not an afterthought. … This is what they wanted here.” It was not tied to an NBA team, it was The W, standing on its own. In Connecticut.
Jones, who was the WNBA’s MVP in 2021 led the Sun as far as the franchise has even been able to go, to the league’s championship series. She is long gone from this little franchise that could, but no longer can – if you listen to the powers that be. She joined the New York Liberty as a free agent, and won a championship there in 2024.
But her years with the Sun, 2016-22, left their mark for Jones, as indeed the Sun’s 23 years in operation have left a legacy for the WNBA. If there is a debt of gratitude, she hasn’t forgotten it.
“I do think this franchise showed that women’s basketball could stand alone,” Jones said, before her jersey was raised to the rafters as one of the ‘Sun Legends’ to be honored this summer, before the franchise departs for Houston. “This franchise bet on women’s basketball before it was the ‘in’ thing to do, before it was getting as much traction as there is now. For all the years the Connecticut Sun helped carry women’s basketball, that’s something that should be looked at and should be respected and honored.”
It’s a point that has been made over and over, the sweet and bitter irony about all this. The league was going sideways, franchises folding when the Mohegan Tribe bought the Orlando team for $10 million and brought it to Connecticut in 2003. It was wildly beneficial for both. The league took hold in a top-30 market with a unique affection for the women’s game, built by UConn; the Tribe began making a profit in 2010, brought thousands of pairs of feet into the casino and, ultimately, sold it for $300 million. They could have gotten more from investors looking to keep team in Connecticut, or New England, but the WNBA and NBA decided it no longer wanted a “stand alone” franchise here. They funneled the sale toward the owners of the Houston Rockets.
Jones, 6 feet 6, who came from The Bahamas, played at George Washington and Clemson, was drafted by Los Angeles in 2016, then traded to Connecticut for Chelsea Gray and two draft picks. It began an exciting era, in which Jonquel Jones, Brionna Jones, Alyssa Thomas, Jasmine Thomas, DeWanna Bonner and the rest challenged for the championship nearly every year, twice making The Finals.
“I just know that when I was here, the culture was really tough basketball, playing really hard and winning a lot of basketball games,” Jonquel said. “What stood out to me, (the fans), they knew basketball. They had seen winning basketball with the University of Connecticut and they really had an expectation when we first came for us to go out every night and play really hard, first and foremost, but then when we started winning games, there was an expectation to win a championship. The amount of love they poured into us players, whether we were out on the town or on the court, they loved the game of basketball, they were gracious fans. I’m sad they won’t have a team.”
As the years went by, star players began to outgrow the Sun and move on to the big city franchises as free agents. The Sun kept regenerating its championship aspirations with astute moves, like the trade to get Jones. They reached The Finals in her final year in Connecticut, and went to the semis again twice after Jones left for the Liberty, but never recovered from losing all five starters after the 2024 season.
Meanwhile, Jones, 32, who was the Liberty’s Finals MVP when they won the title in ’24, has continued to build a pro career that could one day land her in the Naismith Hall of Fame. She’s averaging 13.1 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists for the Liberty, surrounded by stars and poised to make another championship run. Those numbers are consistent with her career averages, 13.3, 8.4 and 2.0.
“The (Sun) took a chance on me, decided to trade for me Draft night,” Jones said. “Ultimately, it’s just a place where I learned to be a leader, grew into the woman I am now.”
So The W has outgrown Connecticut, but Jones has not outgrown her memories, nor her gratitude for them. With a small franchise, nestled largely in a casino complex, rather than a big city where players are apt to fan out, relationships are tight, and built to stay that way. It becomes us-against-the-world. Even the workers around the arena become part of the family.
“It just feels like home to me,” Jones said. “The surrounding area, restaurants I would go to. There are still people here, the arena staff, I have lasting relationships with them as well. When I see them, it feels familiar, it feels comfortable. … I feel like I have so many great memories. All the friendships that I made here. There are people I played with, I can still pick up the phone and call them and talk for hours, we built that kind of bond. Going to championships, building a winning culture, hanging out with my teammates, all that good stuff.”
The team will be gone, but the memories will stay behind, to be jogged by the jerseys that will hang up near the ceiling, including Jones’ No. 35.
“I’m just very happy this is going to happen here,” she said, “that (my jersey) is going to be here in this gym where we did a lot of amazing things. Connecticut just has a really special place in my heart. I’m sad to see the team leaving here, but I’m happy I have all the memories.”
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This story was originally published June 10, 2026 at 2:43 AM.