DeWanna Bonner - The Lover
BASKETBALL - SHOOTING GUARD - WNBA - CONNECTICUT SUN
ARCHETYPE: THE LOVER
Day 70/135
Athletic Accomplishments
DeWanna Bonner is a 6’4” guard for the Connecticut Sun, who has been in the WNBA since 2009. At just 143 pounds, she may be skinny, but Bonner is TOUGH. In seven of her nine active seasons in the W, Bonner has played all 34 regular season games.
In high school, Bonner was the Gatorade Alabama Player of the Year, a USA Today Junior All-American, and considered one of the top 25 recruits in the country.
Bonner went to Auburn University, where she was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team, en route to one of the most successful and impressive careers at Auburn. Bonner smashed the career scoring record (2,162 points), and is listed in the top 10 in every major statistical category at Auburn. Here’s just a sampling of how and where she stacks up: first in free throws, second in career rebounds (1,047), fourth in field goals, sixth in blocks, sevents in steals, 10th in 3-pointers.
For her senior season in 2009, Bonner was the SEC scoring leader and selected as SEC Player of the Year. She was a National Player of the Year Finalist, earning multiple All-American honors and was voted the Alabama Sports Writers Association Amateur Athlete of the Year.
Bonner was selected fifth overall in the 2009 WNBA draft, heading to the Phoenix Mercury to play alongside hoops icon Diana Taurasi. The Mercury won the WNBA championship that year and again in 2014, and Bonner didn’t just coast on Taurasi’s coattails.
She’s BEEN a contributor. In fact, Bonner ranks second on the Mercury’s all-time scoring list (4,820 points), behind only Taurasi, who is the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer.
In 2017, Bonner sat out the WNBA season while pregnant with twins. The following season, she came back and was vote into the 2018 WNBA All-Star Game.
In 2020, Bonner was traded to the Connecticut Sun, where she continues to be a major impact player, as an important complement to Alyssa Thomas and Jonquel Jones.
Character Archetype: The Lover
You want to watch Love & Basketball? Maybe start with two-time WNBA champion, a three-time All-Star, and three-time Sixth Woman of the Year, DeWanna Bonner.
Bonner clearly loves more than just basketball. Her sister, Erica McCall is plays for the Washington Mystics, giving her some loving family ties on another WNBA team.
But perhaps most interesting is Bonner’s romantic connections within the WNBA. In 2014, she married her Phoenix Mercury teammate Candice Dupree. Together, they’re raising twins.
But earlier this year, Bonner shared that she and her current Connecticut Sun teammate Alyssa Thomas are in a relationship, raising lots of questions and the potential for drama, seeing as it’s unclear whether she and Dupree have called it quits.
So here’s my hypothesis, sports fans. Romantic relationships among women athletes—on the same team or as opponents—are not uncommon. But sports reporters—89 percent of whom are men—have absolutely no idea how to cover this or talk about it because they’ve yet to happen in men’s sports. There’s no template. They’re terrified. They have no clue what to do, so they just don’t bother.
While sports media is happy to fan the flames of the Packers/Rodgers will-they-or-won’t-they, they’re missing a story that is potentially juicier, more exciting, and more lucrative. They’re missing love, actually.