There was no initial awkwardness for Courtney Williams to get over when she returned to the Connecticut Sun prior to this season.
Williams played three-plus seasons with the Sun before they traded the 5-foot-8 guard to the Atlanta Dream in February 2020. A free agent this offseason after spending two seasons with the Dream, Williams opted to sign with the Sun, the place where she kick-started her career.
For Williams, she has no hard feelings about coming back to the same organization that once didn’t want her, offering a very relatable analogy about why there was no turbulence in her return to Connecticut.
“It’s like having an argument with your family, right?” Williams said at the Sun’s media day on Wednesday. “You go have an argument, and I pop back out to go say what’s up to my momma. It ain’t no smoke no more that’s my momma. That’s my family just saying. These are my sisters in my family. So you know, pop back in, everything’s cool.”
Williams was an integral piece to the Sun’s backcourt during her first stint with Connecticut. Over a span of three seasons from 2017-19, Williams started in 91 out of 98 regular season games and helped the Sun reach the WNBA Finals in 2019.
Williams is coming off her two best seasons statistically of her career. Last year with the Dream, she averaged career-highs in points (16.5) and assists (4.0) while also grabbing 6.8 rebounds per game. That was all good enough for Williams, who also led the league in minutes played, to earn All-Star honors for the first time in her career.
Williams’ productivity might not reach the same levels this season as she goes from an Atlanta team that finished second-to-last in the WNBA a season ago to a Connecticut squad bursting with talented playmakers all over the court.
But for Williams, she’s just glad to be back in a place that feels like home.
“Man, it feels good,” Williams said. “It feels good, it feels like I’m back around family. Like, I went out there into that ocean by myself and I had to come on home.”
Williams won’t be available to the Sun for the first two games of season as she serves a suspension stemming from her role in an altercation outside an Atlanta-area club last May and for violations of health and safety protocols.
The Sun kick off its season Saturday against the New York Liberty. Connecticut then return to action May 14 against the Los Angeles Sparks, a game you can watch on NESN+ starting at 7 p.m. ET.
