With dignitaries from the Bahamas Consulate of New York, including Consul General the Honorary Leroy F. Major, in attendance, the New York Liberty officially welcomed Jonquel Jones to Barclays Center. Bringing the 2021 WNBA MVP to Brooklyn involved a three-team trade that involved Jones’s longtime team, the Connecticut Sun, as well as the Dallas Wings.
Liberty General Manager Jonathan Kolb described this as one of the biggest trades in franchise history. He extended thanks to the Liberty’s ownership group, operations and analytics departments, coaching staff, and other teams involved in the trade, but most especially the players who are now on other rosters, particularly Rebecca Allen, who played for the Liberty through multiple coaching and roster changes.
“Whenever you get a player of this caliber, you have to give up value. It’s hard,” said Kolb. “[Rebecca Allen] was a staple of this franchise.”
Jones, 29, who is from the Bahamas, has played for the Connecticut Sun since she joined the WNBA in 2016. In addition to earning MVP honors, she is a four-time WNBA All-Star, three-time All-WNBA Second Team member, two-time member of the WNBA All-Defensive First Team and three-time WNBA Peak Performer in Rebounding. She said at this point in her career, she wanted a change, and New York seemed the perfect fit.
“I felt like it was time for a change, time for a new chapter,” said Jones. “I felt for my growth as an athlete, as a person, I wanted to step into a new situation, come into a new organization and better myself. I’m happy I chose New York, and I’m happy New York chose me.”
Despite being one of the few remaining original WNBA franchises, New York has never won a championship. Their last trip to the Finals was in 2002. Jones said helping the Liberty to its first title would be amazing. “Everybody knows that New York is a basketball city; the people love the game,” she said. “It would mean everything to me to be able to bring the championship here to New York, but also I think it would mean a lot to the WNBA.”
There has been rampant speculation about which free agents the Liberty will sign to join Jones on the roster. No doubt, there is more news to come before training camp commences this spring.
