Power Couple: Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner Talk The Olympics, Their Engagement and Building A Winning Culture With t
The past five seasons have been a journey of ups and downs: new teammates, new coaches, new positions, new responsibilities. And yet, the two remain anchored to the culture they’ve instilled since they first teamed up four years ago. It’s a culture that has the Sun sitting at 18-6 as the second-best team in the W with both DeWanna and Alyssa dominating, again. The wedding’s gonna have to wait ’til after the Olympics, though.
Before the morning of June 11, Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner had never been inside the Connecticut Sun offices. As Alyssa walked down the hallway with DeWanna closely behind, the four-time All-Star peered through the frosted glass of the room to her right. She instantly dropped her head to the side as the emotions began to build. A familiar figure stood in the room, Connecticut Sun president and USA Basketball’s Women’s National Team Committee Chair Jen Rizzotti. In her hands were Alyssa’s deep red, white and blue USA Basketball threads, honoring her with a spot on the 2024 US Women’s Olympic team.
“Honestly, they told me I had a meeting,” Alyssa says. “I turned the corner and I see her [Jen] through the glass and my heart kind of just dropped that it’s finally happening. I’m probably the second-oldest on the team at 32, and I’m getting my first opportunity to be on a team like this—it meant a lot to me.”
In the video posted to USA Basketball’s Instagram, the loudest voice in the room is DeWanna’s, cheering and clapping for her person with pride. “It’s funny because I think I was more anxious than her during that waiting process. I’m just like, When is it going to happen?” she says. “So for me, I’m just so proud of her, I’m so happy for her. It’s something that she really, really worked hard for, like she said, at 32. Yeah, we’ll be in Paris.”
https://www.slamonline.com/the-magazine/251/alyssa-thomas-dewanna-bonner-cover-story-wslam/