Jones may have her best chance at a championship in her fourth WNBA Finals appearance.
New York Liberty forward Jonquel Jones takes a shot during Game 1 of the 2024 WNBA Finals on Oct. 10 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
At the beginning of the 2024 season, New York Liberty forward Jonquel Jones shared a new perspective on how she was approaching the upcoming year.
“It’s a marathon, not a sprint,” she said.
Though Jones, entering her eighth season in the league, spoke about the season ahead, the phrase is one that could be applied to multiple aspects of her WNBA career.
In many ways, Jones’ rise in the league has been a marathon. She went from not making the All-Rookie team to becoming the league’s Most Improved Player in 2017 and from being the WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year in 2018 to becoming the league MVP in 2021.
So, too, has been her quest to win a championship.
As the Liberty duels with the Minnesota Lynx for a championship, Jones is playing in the fourth WNBA Finals of her career. A WNBA title is one of the last remaining awards for Jones to add to her trophy case. Thus far it’s been elusive.
This year may be Jones’ best crack at a championship as part of a Liberty team that finished the regular season atop the league and eliminated the back-to-back champion Las Vegas Aces on their way to the WNBA Finals.
Jones and the Liberty will have some work to do, however, after falling to the Lynx in a nail-biting 95-93 overtime thriller in Game 1 on Thursday. If her performance in the series opener is any indication, Jones is determined to end the championship drought for herself and the team.
“This is the last thing that JJ kind of needs to check off,” Liberty teammate Courtney Vandersloot said.
“This is a big one for her.”
In Game 1 of the WNBA Finals on Oct. 10, New York Liberty forward Jonquel Jones finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds.
In the WNBA’s 28-year history, there have been 10 players who have lost in their first three Finals appearances, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
Of those 10 players, guard Katie Douglas won a championship – in 2012 with the Indiana Fever. The list includes players such as forward Angel McCoughtry and former Liberty guards Becky Hammon, Vickie Johnson and Teresa Weatherspoon.
As Jones prepared for the Finals, she focused on the opportunity she had in front of her.
“I’m just coming in playing hard,” Jones said. “I’m really the type of person that focuses on one thing at a time, whatever the main thing is I allow to be the main thing. Obviously you learn from those Finals appearances, but you also come in locked-in with the mindset to win this one.”
Though teams Jones has played for have been unsuccessful in their first three tries at a championship, she has delivered stellar play. She is one of only six players in WNBA history with 20-plus double-doubles in the playoffs, according to ESPN Research.
In each of her three Finals appearances, Jones has excelled. In 2019, Jones averaged 19.2 points, 11 rebounds and 1.8 assists in her first Finals appearance with the Connecticut Sun against the Washington Mystics, a series that came down to the fifth and final game. In 2022, Jones averaged 16 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists against the Las Vegas Aces, who would top the Sun in four games. Last season, Jones averaged 18.3 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocks against the Aces as Las Vegas won its second-straight title in four games.
In Game 1 on Thursday, Jones finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds, both game highs.
“That’s really been the story of my career, to be honest,” Jones said. “If you go back and look at all the Finals I’ve played in, I’ve played well in them, we just haven’t won. That’s just been it.”
New York Liberty forward Jonquel Jones takes a 3-point shot in overtime against the Minnesota Lynx at Barclays Center on Oct. 10.
On a team with multiple future Hall of Famers, Jones was the team’s best performer in the 2023 playoffs. Ultimately, it wouldn’t be enough.
“Making it to another championship and falling short is always motivating. I think we did a lot of good things last year. We just needed a little bit more,” Jones said.
“Our team has had a year to really grow and understand each other and build,” Jones said. “We have that bonding experience of making it to a championship and falling short and then having that hunger to go out there and make our minds up in terms of how we approach the game – that [losing in the Finals] wasn’t going to happen again.
“We still have a job to do. … We understand that it’s going to be a fight, but, collectively, we’ve gone through a lot together, and we’ve built and gotten way stronger.”
For Jones, this season was about getting back to her old self. For most of last season, Jones was recovering from a foot injury.
“This year, it really helped just to play basketball and get back to myself and be healthy,” Jones said.
“I think she just feels comfortable and I think that just takes time,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. “She was injured for half of the year and it’s hard, emotionally, physically, it’s hard for her. She got going near the end, but then it was more how can I come and be better from day one. She’s been huge for us.”
This season, Jones was selected to her fifth All-Star Game. She averaged 14.2 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and a career-best 3.2 assists for the Liberty.
When asked if she saw a sense of urgency in Jones this year and her quest for a title, Vandersloot said there was no notable difference as Jones has always carried the same championship energy.
“I don’t necessarily see anything different because she always approaches every season like she wants to win a championship, since I’ve known her,” said Vandersloot, who played with Jones overseas before they became teammates on the Liberty. “This one, of course, I think a little experience helps. She knows what it’s like to be with this group, but she approaches it the same.”
Jonquel Jones averaged 14.2 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and a career-best 3.2 assists per game for the Liberty this season.
Like Jones, forward Breanna Stewart and Vandersloot will be making their fourth Finals appearances – a feat only accomplished by 29 other players in WNBA history. Stewart won two championships with the Seattle Storm and Vandersloot won a championship with the Chicago Sky. All three are looking to win their first title since joining together in New York last season to form a super-team.
Vandersloot said she’d love to see Jones break through for that first title.
“Us three especially, we kind of were in cahoots to come here and to be in this situation exactly and to get JJ her first one. Stewie and I knew what it was like, and, of course, you always want more,” Vandersloot said. “[JJ] has put in the time. She’s put in the work. She’s been MVP. All her individual success in her career. It’s huge for her to get there.”
Well aware that it’s always possible another opportunity at a championship could never come, Jones knows to never take any time she’s able to make the Finals for granted – whether she wins or not. While Jones said there is a certain frustration that comes with repeatedly reaching the final lap of the season only to fall just short – she, more than most, knows what the finish line looks like.
She hopes to cross it this season.
“I understand that it’s a marathon and not a sprint,” Jones said again, this time during shootaround before Game 1. “You go out there and you try your best to do anything that the team needs so that you can win.”
