Why Dewanna Bonner chose Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever: “I want to win another championship”

Indianapolis – Caitlin Clark looked at the timeline from the decline, crossed its left and launched a deep 3 points on the tense arm of Dewanna Bonner.

Birch.

While Clark fell to the ground at Mohegan Sun Arena, the superstar of Indiana fever let the referees hear it. She felt that Bonner, the defensive ace of Connecticut Sun, knows it on its 3 point pointer and did not give it a space to land. Clark pleaded for a fault. Boner in disagreement with vehement. The two gathered briefly and exchanged a push before being separated.

The whole sequence, in match 2 of the first round of the WNBA 2024 eliminatory series, lasted a few seconds only each player reflected the inflexible fire they saw in each other. None of the two competitors could not have predicted until four months later, after the end of the sun of the fever season, they were called teammates.

“These are (the) playoffs, so the emotions are high, the tension is high,” said Bonner on Monday. “But I couldn’t be more excited to walk in the field with Caitlin.”

In fact, they have already done so. Clark and Bonner, the most notable free agent in the signing of this off -season, shared training on the ground on Monday in the fever training gym a few hours before the transformation of the space to include a scene and dozens of chairs for the Bonner introductory press conference. Clark sat on the first row, striking a sheepish smile when Bonner approached their post-season dust which, knowing how each player is wired, will probably not be their last quarrel when they unite.

“This is exactly what you want. You want your teammates to be as competitive as you, ”said Clark. “I think the training camp is going to be really fun.”

Clark, alongside Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell, made the front page of the young star trio in the Indiana who put the league in notice last year. After a start of 1-8, the fever finished the regular season at 20-20 and made the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

Bonner had a first -hand report of the resurgence of fever during the playoffs, and when she weighed her decision, this offseason of leaving the sun, which has stripped their list and went into rebuilt -in mode , she did it with a thought rising above rest.

“I want to win another championship,” said Bonner, who won two titles with the Phoenix Mercury. “I want to come back to the final.”

Bonner believes that the fever, which it has recommended as “hungry group”, gives it the best chance to this, and the adjustment made too much sense. New Fever Coo and the Managing Director Amber Cox, who worked with Bonner in Phoenix, called him a future temple of Shoo-in renown. Coach Stephanie White, who previously resulted in fever from 2015 to 2016, led to Bonner in the past two years in Connecticut before finding himself in Indiana. Even the young girls of Bonner, Cali and a half, begged their mother to choose Indiana because it is only a few hours away from where children live in Tennessee.

“I knew from the start that all the lines are somehow connected to the Indiana,” said Bonner, who signed a one -year agreement with the fever. “But it was like:” Should I do this? ” Do I not have? But then I called Amber, and I say to myself: “Very well, I am” and the tears have flowed a little. »»

Aside from personal relations, Bonner said that it was the competitiveness of the fever that made them more attractive than the other teams. Bonner, 37, also recognized that once she had put the pen on paper, she would marry the twilight of her career with the unprecedented ascent of Clark. During the Historical Recruit campaign of Clark, she broke the record for assistance passes in a single match and a season en route to win the honors of the first WNBA team. She also became the first recruit to record a triple -double – and did it twice.

It is the leader with whom Bonner, who played the most eliminatory matches in the history of the WNBA, wants to continue a championship in 2025. The same playmaker who became the face of sport.

“I do not feel like I need to push her to be a type of player that she is not already,” said Bonner about Clark. “Coming to this league is in no way easy, especially its path. But seeing what she has already done for this league, then this organization, is a little crazy. You don’t see this in the recruits much. So I hope, as I said, I can make life a little easier. “”

Bonner, who enters his 16th professional season, launches consecutive consecutive nods of the stars and his sixth selection of stars in total. It collected an average of 15 points, six rebounds, two assists and 1.2 interceptions last season while the sun was heading for the semi-finals of the eliminatory series. White said Bonner has properly described as a “puzzle piece” because it can do some of all offensively and defensively to raise the fever of the new look, which also signed the triple champion of the WNBA Natasha Howard in a free agency and exchanged for Sophie Cunningham.

Bonner admitted that it would be a challenge for each player to adapt to new roles, but it is a burden that she welcomes while Indiana tries to take another step forward. Last year, when Bonner and Clark rushed into the playoffs, the fever was sent home. This year, as a teammates, their goal is to send to all others pack.

“The way they got out and fought and almost got the second match (in the first round last year), just shows the type of players they have and the vision they want to go,” said Boner about fever. “And I want to win. I am a winner. I have the impression that it was (which) I am my entire career, and I do not see myself taking a step back. … Just add to what they have (therefore) that we can bring this thing to a different level. »»

Clark shared the same feeling while assessing the remarkable offseason of Indiana. The 23 -year -old congratulated fever for prioritizing the future of the franchise by bringing experienced champions like Bonner and Howard, as well as his long -term future with plans to build a training installation of 78 Millions of dollars that could attract free notable notable agents free agents throughout the line.

“I think that the next few years will be incredible for this franchise and will continue to be, hope, more than 10 years,” said Clark. “I hope we win a few championships. They invest to help us be really good. »»

This article originally appeared in Athletics.

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