Jones still a frontrunner for MVP

With just one game remaining against a team with a winning record, Jonquel “JJ” Jones and the Connecticut Sun are poised to wrap up the top seed in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), and secure home court advantage through the playoffs.

In the midst of that, the Bahamian star is having one of her finest seasons in the league – putting up Most Valuable Player (MVP) numbers across the board and developing into arguably the most dominant player in the league.

Jones is top five in the league in a number of offensive stats, including scoring, rebounding and Fantasy points per game, leading the Sun to the league’s best record, 20-6 – one game ahead of the second-place Las Vegas Aces (19-7) who they have swept in three games this year. The Sun has won eight in a row and has already clinched a playoff spot. They have six games remaining on the schedule and just one is against a club with a winning record, the Phoenix Mercury, who they have already beaten twice this year.

The Sun starts a four-game road trip tonight, taking on the Washington Mystics at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington, DC, in a championship rematch from two years ago. They are then off for a week before traveling to Arlington, Texas, to play the Dallas Wings before ending the road trip against the Los Angeles Sparks and the Mercury.

The Sun then returns to the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, to host the New York Liberty and Atlanta Dream in their final two regular season games. Their remaining opponents have a combined 63-91 win/loss record, setting the Sun up perfectly to finish with the league’s best record – which would be the first time for them since the 2006 season.

As for Jones, she is one of just two players in the league averaging a double-double at 19.8 points and a league-leading 10.9 rebounds per game. The 6’6” post player for the Sun is poised to finish the season as the league leader in rebounding for the third time in her career. She set a WNBA rebounding record in 2017, becoming the first player in league history to collect more than 400 rebounds in a season.

This season, Jones is averaging career-highs in points, assists, steals and three-pointers made. She is shooting 52.1 percent from the field and 37.8 percent from three-point land. The 27-year-old Bahamian women’s professional basketball player has taken on more of a leadership role with the Sun this season, looking to lead them to their first WNBA title. They have come up empty in their previous three trips to the finals – 2004 to the Seattle Storm, 2005 to the now defunct Sacramento Monarchs, and most recently in 2019 to the Mystics. Against the Storm and Mystics, they came with a game of winning the title each time, and against the Monarchs, they lost three games to one.

Jones remains one of the leading candidates for the league’s MVP Award, despite missing five games to take part in the 2021 European Women’s Basketball Championship for Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition to dominating in the paint and around the basket, she proved that she is a feared player facing the basket.

Jones has developed into one of the better perimeter shooters in the league. She is averaging a career-high 1.6 three point shots per game and finished second in the league’s MTN DEW Three-Point Contest during halftime of the WNBA All-Star Game in Las Vegas, Nevada, this year. Jones was just five points shy of defeating now three-time champion Allie Quigley of the Chicago Sky.

SB Nation, a popular sports blogging network based out of New York City and Washington, DC, has Jones listed as the top candidate for the league’s MVP Award.

“Along with DeWanna Bonner, she (Jones) is the cornerstone of the Connecticut Sun, and her presence on the court cannot go unseen,” stated Sydney Umeri of SB Nation. “This versatile 6’6 forward averages a double-double… leads the league in rebounds and was named an all-star for the third time in her five-year career. Jones also leads the Sun in four of the five main stat categories – points, rebounds, steals and blocks, making her the only player to lead her team in four of the five main categories. Simply put, she is the Sun’s most valuable player, and arguably the league’s as well.”

As mentioned, Jones is a three-time WNBA All-Star. She is also a two-time All-WNBA, an All-Defensive First Team member, and won the league’s Most Improved Player and sixth Woman of the Year awards.

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