Ex-Mercury player Bonner returns to Phoenix, faces fiancee Thomas in WNBA All-Star Game

One of the WNBA’s best duos is engaged, and they’re playing against each other in the Phoenix All-Star Game on Saturday.

DeWanna Bonner is making a return to the Valley with her Connecticut Sun teammate and fiancée Alyssa Thomas as part of Team WNBA and Team USA, respectively.

“You hear about it every day. I gotta go out there and get ready where we’re preparing for something huge, and she tells me every day, ‘You better not screen me that hard,'” Thomas said during media availability on Friday. “But I gotta go out there and compete and I’m trying not to let her score.”

Bonner, 16-year WNBA veteran, became one of the league’s top wings during the first 11 seasons with the Phoenix. Bonner, 36, is fifth on the league’s all-time scoring list. She helped lead Phoenix to two titles as a rookie in 2009 and five years later in Brittney Griner’s first year, making them the team’s former Big 3 with Diana Taurasi.

“I miss it,” Bonner said. “The weather, I like it. I was at the pool, was literally sunk about five hours, and everybody’s like, ‘How are you out here?!’ and I’m like, ‘Oh my god, this is great!’ It’s gonna get cold in Connecticut soon, so I gotta enjoy this.”

Saturday will be Bonner’s eighth time playing in Phoenix since she was traded to Connecticut in 2020, including the Sun’s 83-72 road victory on July 1. It’s also her sixth All-Star selection.

“I think was just being here. Super excited getting another (All-Star) pick, especially this age in my career,” Bonner said. “It doesn’t happen often, so I think just making and being here, being named and honored is pretty good.”

Bonner and Thomas complement each other’s skill sets like the soulmates they are.

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Thomas, 32, is a versatile power forward and smart defender with a country-strong 6-foot-2 frame, who effortlessly puts up triple-doubles. She’s also a stellar ball-handler and scores best when attacking the rim.

Now in her 11th season, all in Connecticut, and fifth All-Star appearance, Thomas puts up 11.4 points, and team-highs 9.2 rebounds, 7.6 assists with 1.5 steals per game. Her assist average is second in the league behind the Indiana Fever’s star rookie Caitlin Clark (8.2), who’ll play on Team WNBA with Bonner. She currently has the second-best odds to win the MVP behind the Aces’ A’ja Wilson. Thomas finished second last year for that award behind New York’s Breanna Stewart. Thomas, Stewart, and Wilson are each on Team USA.

The three-time Sixth Woman of the Year award winner Bonner is a lithe 6-foot-4 who creates her shots well off the bounce, and a catch-and-shoot threat from deep and mid-range off kickout passes and screens from Thomas.

Bonner is the Sun’s leading scorer at 17.1 points, and her 6.2 rebounds are the Sun’s second behind Thomas.

They’ve have helped drive Connecticut to the second-best record 18-6 behind the New York Liberty (21-4). Together, they led Connecticut to its first ever WNBA Finals appearance in 2021 and lost to the defending champion Las Vegas Aces, the first of their two straight titles.

Thomas and Bonner are pioneers as the first couple to grace the cover of basketball culture’s most revered periodical SLAM Magazine, which was revealed on Wednesday.

“It was exciting,” Thomas said about being on the SLAM cover. “Both of us aren’t people that like the attention or being in the spotlight, but we have a lot of people in our ears telling us that, ‘You guys gotta do more things like this.’ So we stepped out of our comfort zone and we had a great time and I think everything turned out pretty well.”

Bonner agreed with Thomas about not wanting to make their relationship a spectacle for a long time since they’ve been teammates. Then they let out the secret and got engaged during the 2023 All-Star Weekend.

“Trust me, it took a lot for us to get there because we consider ourselves kind of private people, but people love love at the same time,” Bonner said. “We don’t typically like to be on the scene like that, so it was pretty cool to show the world that a different side of us, and it was super fun.

“At the same time, it’s great competing with her because she’s the ultimate competitor and one of the best in the world. Having her my side is great. Win-win for me.”

In addition, Bonner has a heartfelt message for young Black females in the LGBTQ community who look up to her and Thomas.

“Be you! So many have opinions and so many eyes, or people think they know they have the answer to how you live your life. But it’s your life,” Bonner said. “At the end of the day, that’s all you got is one of you,” Bonner said.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: DeWanna Bonner returns to Phoenix, faces fiancee in All-Star Game