Bonner busy with babies while Mercury struggle
Team sorely misses star as it fights for spot in playoffs
More than once this season, Phoenix Mercury coach Sandy Brondello has ruminated about how much better her team would be with DeWanna Bonner.
That thought might have occurred to Brondello again Sunday when the Mercury scored a season-low 21 points in the second half of a 94-66 loss at Connecticut.
When the Mercury were 11-6 and rolling at midseason, Bonner felt more like a luxury. Now at 15-14 and still not a playoff lock, Phoenix wistfully wonders if Bonner is ready to play again, less than a month after giving birth to twins.
“That’s a little bit too quick,” Bonner said. “Definitely next season. I miss Phoenix a lot. It’s always been my goal to get back as soon as I can.”
The Mercury clearly would better offensively with the 6-4 Bonner, three-time WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year and 2015 All-WNBA first team. Finding a consistent third scorer to go with Brittney Griner (21.5 ppg) and Diana Taurasi (18.9) has been a season-long issue.
The pressure is only rising with five regular-season games remaining, three of those against the top teams in the league, including Minnesota (22-6) on Tuesday and Los Angeles (21-8) on Thursday.
Brondello and her players need to find an answer if the Mercury are to make the playoffs for a record fifth straight year. For Bonner, there are other priorities.
She and her wife, former Mercury teammate Candice Dupree, are learning the ropes of parenting at hyper speed. They are living in Indianapolis, where Dupree and Bonner’s sister, Erica McCall, play for the Indiana Fever. They have assistance from Bonner’s parents and Dupree’s mother.
“Everything happened so fast,” Bonner said. “Everybody hopped on board to help out so I can get sleep or when Candice is on the road. It’s something we had to prepare for.”
Bonner and Dupree were married Nov. 5, around the same time that Bonner learned she was pregnant. Three months
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later, Bonner found out she’d be having twin girls.
“I was excited,” Bonner said. “We wanted to have a sibling so they could play and grow up with each other.”
The babies were born a bit early on July 27, both healthy at just under 6 pounds. For now, the moms are choosing to keep the names private and not putting out a photo.
“This is something new for us,” said Bonner of keeping some details private. “We’re still enjoying it and taking it in. They haven’t been home that long.”
What Bonner is open about is her marriage, the second in less than a year for former Mercury teammates. Diana Taurasi and Penny Taylor were married June 13.
Bonner is not breast feeding – “I’d never get any sleep. They wake up every three hours to eat” – but said she is catching on fast to her normal. “It’s nothing short of amazing having these two humans depend on you. It’s fun seeing their personalities come out and how different they are. They’re complete angels.”