The WNBA announced a collection of awards for the 2021 season on Tuesday morning, and in addition to having the best record in the league during the regular season and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, the Connecticut Sun managed to take home a number of individual honors. At the forefront was Jonquel Jones capping off her magnificent season by being named WNBA MVP in near unanimous fashion.
Jones received 48 of a potential 49 first-place votes en route to earning league MVP honors for the first time in her career. All season long, Jones has served as the focal point for the Sun on their run to the top of the league, averaging 19.4 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.3 blocks, and 1.3 steals in 31.7 minutes per game while connecting on 51.5 percent of her shots from the field and 36.2 percent of her attempts from three. The only other player to get a first-place vote was Brittney Griner of the Phoenix Mercury, who came in second place, while the rest of the top-5 vote getters consisted of Breanna Stewart, Sylvia Fowles, and Tina Charles.
It’s the latest bit of hardware in Jones’ increasingly full trophy case, as she adds an MVP to a Sixth Woman of the Year award in 2016 and a Most Improved Player award in 2017. That second honor returned to Connecticut this year, too, with Brionna Jones being named the league’s MIP. In a season that saw her named an All-Star for the first time in her WNBA career, Jones averaged 14.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 30.6 minutes per game while starting each of the 32 games the Sun played, all of which were career-best marks.
To round out the honors, Sun head coach Curt Miller was named the league’s Coach of the Year for the second time, having previously won it in 2017. The team will look to take all of its individual success and, as it has done so well this season, turn that into team success in its quest to win the first championship in franchise history when it kicks off its postseason on Tuesday night against Chicago.
