HARTFORD, Conn. — Connecticut Sun forward Brionna Jones has been named the 2022 WNBA Sixth Player of the Year, the league announced Thursday.
This is the second season in a row Jones has won a performance award from the league. She earned WNBA Most Improved Player of the Year honors in 2021.
Jones established herself as a WNBA All-Star in that 2021 season, which was her second in a starting role. But with fellow Sun forward Alyssa Thomas back from injury and reigning MVP Jonquel Jones available as well, she was asked to come off the bench. She did so gracefully, putting the team before herself while still making just as big of an impact for the team.
In her sixth year in the league out of the University of Maryland, Jones averaged 13.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.2 steals in 25.1 minutes per game. She played in all 36 of the Sun’s games, coming off the bench in 29 of them, and was named a WNBA All-Star for the second consecutive season. Jones also shot 56.9% from the field, which ranked fourth in the league, and her 2.6 offensive rebounds per game ranked second.
Media around the league took notice as Jones did so. She won the award handily, receiving 53 of 56 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Chicago Sky forward/center Azurá Stevens, who played at UConn in 2017-18 after sitting out a year due to transfer rules, got two votes while Washington Mystics forward Myisha Hines-Allen had one.
Jones will receive $5,150 and a specially designed trophy by Tiffany & Co. She is the third Sun player to win the Sixth Player of the Year Award with the Sun, joining Jonquel Jones (2018) and Renee Montgomery (2012). Connecticut wing DeWanna Bonner received the honor three times from 2009-11, back when she was with the Phoenix Mercury.
The Sun resume play in the semifinals of the WNBA playoffs on Sunday at Mohegan Sun Arena. Connecticut enters Game 3 against the Chicago Sky with the series tied at 1-1. The contest will air on ESPN2 at 1 p.m. ET.
