Perhaps just Amber Cox and DeWanna Bonner could have foreseen the former’s role in the latter’s stunning career move.
Bonner revealed Tuesday in an interview with the Hartford Courant’s Alexa Philippou the integral role Cox, the Connecticut Sun vice president, played in her decision to join the team in WNBA free agency. Bonner was one of the WNBA’s most sought-after free agents, but the relationship she developed with Cox between 2005 and 2013 during their overlapping tenures with the Phoenix Mercury gave Connecticut an edge over rivals to her signature.
“I’m coming from somewhere where I was for 10-11 years,” Bonner told Philippou. “That was important to me — if I was going to make a change or do something different, I definitely wanted to go somewhere where I’m comfortable, where someone knows me and can help me and my family be comfortable there as well. Definitely knowing Amber was huge for me.
“We already had a bond and a relationship, so that drew me to Connecticut.”
Bonner, a two-time WNBA champion, three-time WNBA All-Star and three-time WNBA sixth Woman of the Year, joined the Sun from the Mercury in February in a sign-and-trade. Her arrival made Connecticut one of the “biggest winners” of WNBA free agency and bolsters the prospects of a Sun team that fell one win short of claiming its first WNBA championship.
Should Bonner help the Sun reach the promised land in 2020, as she intends to do, fans will have to take note of Cox’s role as a secret weapon in their battle for Bonner’s services.
