Even earlier than the information broke that WNBA famous person, Breanna Stewart was headed to New York to play for Liberty, Jonquel Jones was already excited to begin the following section of her profession within the Massive Apple. After studying Stewart could be becoming a member of, properly, she was over the moon.
“Now I am simply, you recognize, sort of nervous proper now,” Jones mentioned in a telephone interview with amNewYork. “Simply actually, actually able to go simply to get on the sector with them. Not simply to play a sport, however to begin coaching and see how all of the items match collectively. I am very assured we are able to win video games. Simply with the ability to exit collectively and play collectively and really feel one another and every thing from like that.”
Jones was Liberty’s first massive addition of the season after they made an enormous commerce to the Connecticut Solar and Dallas Wings to convey Jones to New York. And Liberty was the one place Jones wished to play.
The 2021 WNBA MVP confirmed to amNewYork that she informed The Solar that New York is the place she desires to go. Jones has one other 12 months left on her contract, which she is going to now play alongside Stewart and Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu.
“Positive, New York was the place I wished to be,” mentioned Jones. “There have been no different discussions the place I wished to be. And it was clear that town and as everybody is aware of, New York is a really central place for basketball and every thing you are able to do off the court docket. However the path of Liberty and the best way the group was slowly altering and morphing into Only a high quality group.
“I noticed what (coach Sandy Brundello) and (assistant coach Olaf Lang) and the remainder of the employees, the entrance workplace, did final 12 months, and I knew that with a few of the different expertise and a few of the different gamers, that they had a whole lot of the items right here that might come collectively and make one thing.” Actually particular.”
The 2021 WNBA MVP averaged 14.6 factors, 8.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per sport final season because the Connecticut Solar reached the WNBA Finals. She averaged 13.6 factors, 8.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists whereas capturing over 50% for her profession.
The place Jones actually excels is the flexibility she brings to Liberty and do not anticipate that to vary as soon as she steps onto the court docket at Barclays Heart. The 6’6 ahead mentioned she’s already working with Lang and has spoken to Brondello about what to anticipate for the upcoming season.
Away from the court docket, what made Liberty so enticing was the truth that it was one of many organizations on the forefront of attempting to develop the WNBA. House owners Joe and Clara Wu Tsai have been a part of new possession teams to return in and attempt to increase the status of the league.
The Nets, which fall below the identical BSE International umbrella, additionally boast two superstars in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving who’ve been vocal of their assist of the ladies’s sport and the WNBA.
“I believe it is so necessary when you’ve gotten guys like KD and Kyrie able the place they’ll make adjustments,” Jones mentioned of their assist. “Additionally able the place their voices carry farther than ours ever might. I believe it is necessary that they do what they do and I am actually glad to say now we have gamers like these enjoying on our males’s staff who actually care in regards to the development of girls’s basketball. I believe That with Kobe (Bryant) gone we want increasingly gamers to step in and actually assist us develop the league as a result of Kobe was undoubtedly a hero in that.”
Jones has already begun to make her means into the neighborhood. On Wednesday, Jones was in Bronx Work with center college college students on their basketball abilities. The New York basketball star now plans to reap the benefits of her new environment and make an impression locally.
She hadn’t determined but the place she would sink her tooth, however she quickly moved to the world in Brooklyn.
“Earlier than I got here right here, I by no means would have thought that I might have some sort of sense of belonging so strongly in such a giant metropolis, however being in Brooklyn, I undoubtedly do,” Jones mentioned. “I’ll undoubtedly take my time and actually get to know the individuals within the space and actually strive to determine the place I can impression change.”