A month after forcing her way out of town, DeWanna Bonner made her return to Indianapolis on Wednesday, and the trip did not go well for her nor the Phoenix Mercury. Bonner was booed early and often and finished with just four points in a 107-101 loss to the Indiana Fever.
After the game, Mercury guard Kahleah Copper stood up for her new teammate and called the Fever fans’ reaction “distasteful.”
“I think she handled it well. I just, I don’t understand. She’s a legend, and all the things she’s done for the league, and just the disrespect, I can’t get down with it,” Copper said. “They booed her, she didn’t say a word to the crowd. People talked some trash to her, but we had her back. It’s just very distasteful for what their fanbase is doing as far as when it comes to DB, because she’s just the sweetest soul and the situation didn’t work for her. That’s just not what she wanted or whatever, but we don’t need all of that. It’s unnecessary.”
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Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts, on the other hand, saw nothing wrong with the atmosphere.
“I thought [Bonner] handled it fine,” Tibbetts said. “That’s how sports work, you go to a former home of yours when you don’t leave on your terms and typically fans aren’t going to be happy. That’s what they did tonight.”
While Bonner — a two-time champion and the league’s third leading scorer all-time — is certainly a legend in the game, none of that matters to the Fever fans, who only care about the way Bonner handled her short tenure with the team.
Bonner was the Fever’s marquee free agent signing during their busy offseason, and was expected to help the team compete for a championship. Instead, she was a complete non-factor. Bonner was removed from the starting lineup after three games and averaged just 7.1 points and 3.8 rebounds on 34.5% shooting in her nine appearances with the Fever. Along the way she had more games without a field goal (three) than double digit points (two).
In mid-June, the Fever announced that Bonner would be out for personal reasons and did not give a timeline for her return. As her absence stretched to nearly two weeks, reports began to emerge that she had actually requested a trade. Unable to find a suitable deal, the Fever eventually waived Bonner on June 25.
Weeks later, on July 8, Bonner signed with the Mercury, returning to the franchise that drafted her No. 5 overall in 2009. Bonner, who spent the first 10 seasons of her career with the Mercury, also reunited with her fiancée, Alyssa Thomas, who was traded to the Mercury during the offseason.
Bonner had faced criticism for her decision, but told reporters earlier this month that she “wouldn’t do anything differently.”
“I think my journey is my journey and I’m going to accept that,” Bonner said. “It carried me to where I am now in Phoenix and it happened that way for a reason.”
While the Fever fans voiced their displeasure with Bonner upon her return, the Fever players and coaching staff have taken the high road.
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“I think she’s fit in perfectly with Phoenix,” Fever coach Stephanie White said Tuesday. “Her and [Alyssa Thomas] play so well together, and she does a really good job of adding a different dimension with her ability to be a stretch four to complement and her and Satou [Sabally] being able to play on the floor at the same time with [Thomas]. She’s comfortable there, she’s comfortable in that system… I’m glad that she’s happy and I’m glad that she’s found her spot.”
Aliyah Boston decided not to get involved after putting up 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Fever to victory.
“Honestly, that’s got nothing to do with me,” Boston said of the fans booing Bonner. “I think DB returned because we were playing Phoenix, and that happened to be that. The fans just do what they want to do. But for us, it’s about paying attention to what we have to do here, and that was coming in and getting a big win, which we were able to do.”