DeWanna Bonner

DeWanna Bonner

No. 24 – Phoenix Mercury
Position	Shooting guard / Small forward
League	WNBA
Personal information
Born	(1987-08-21) August 21, 1987
Nationality	American/Macedonian
Listed height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight	143 lb (65 kg)
Career information
High school	Fairfield (Fairfield, Alabama)
College	Auburn (2005–2009)
WNBA draft	2009 / Round: 1 / Pick: 5th overall
Selected by the Phoenix Mercury
Playing career	2009–present
Career history
2009–present	Phoenix Mercury
Career highlights and awards
2× WNBA champion (2009, 2014) 2× WNBA All-Star (2015, 2018) All-WNBA First Team (2015) 3× WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year (2009–2011)
Stats at WNBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

DeWanna Bonner (born August 21, 1987) is an American professional basketball forward for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).^[1]

Personal life

Born on August 21, 1987 to LaShelle Bonner and Greg McCall. She has three siblings, sister Vin'Centia Dewberry, brother Justin McCall, and sister Erica McCall. Bonner majored in Psychology at Auburn University. In November 2016 Bonner married fellow WNBA player (and former Mercury teammate) Candice Dupree. In March 2017 it was confirmed Bonner was expecting the couple's first child and will miss the 2017 WNBA season. Bonner and Dupree welcomed twin daughters on July 30, 2017.

From March, 2018, Bonner has received passport of Republic of Macedonia, and is expected to play in the Women's National Basketball Team of Republic of Macedonia.

High school

Bonner attended high school at Fairfield High School in Fairfield, Alabama. She was named McDonald's and WBCA All-American and participated in their All-America games.^[2] She earned USA Today Junior All-America and was the Gatorade Alabama Player of the Year while at Fairfield High School. She was featured in USA Today as one of the top 25 recruits in the nation during summer of 2005.

College career

Bonner went to Auburn University, where she earned a degree in psychology.^[3] She was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team. She scored in double figures in 22 games during the 2005–06 season and led the Tigers with a 13.5 points per game average, the first time since 1980–81 that a freshman led the team in scoring.

This led Bonner to join the youth teams of US basketball, winning the 2006 FIBA Americas Under-20 Championship for Women and the FIBA Under-21 World Championship for Women one year later.^[3]

Bonner went on to put together one of the most impressive careers ever at Auburn. The 2009 SEC Player of the Year and a National Player of the Year finalist, she broke the Auburn career scoring record during the Ole Miss game at the SEC Tournament. She finished her career with 2,162 points, nearly 100 more than the former school record.

She also finished her career as one of Auburn's top rebounders, taking second all-time with 1,047 rebounds, placing her among three Tigers to ever finish their career with more than 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. Listed in the top 10 in every major statistical category at Auburn, she also ranks sixth in blocks, seventh in steals, first in free throws, fourth in field goals and 10th in 3-pointers.

Bonner led the SEC in scoring that season, becoming the first Auburn player to ever earn the honor. She also ranked 10th in the country in scoring while setting the Auburn single-season scoring record with 716 points, 21.1 per game.

She went on to earn WBCA/State Farm, USBWA, AP and ESPN.com All-America honors and was voted the Alabama Sports Writers Association Amateur Athlete of the Year.

WNBA career

Bonner was selected 5th overall in the 2009 WNBA Draft by the Phoenix Mercury. In her first regular season game with the Mercury, Bonner played 26 minutes and scored 16 points.^[5] October 9, 2009 as a rookie Bonner scored 13 points to contribute toward the 2009 championship. On September 12, 2014 Bonner won her second WNBA Championship, with 12 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists. In 2017, Bonner sat out the whole season due to pregnancy. She would return to the team in 2018 and be voted into the 2018 WNBA All-Star Game. Later on in the season, the Mercury made the playoffs as the fifth seed and were one game away from reaching the finals as they lost in five games to the Seattle Storm in the semi-finals.

WNBA career statistics

Postseason

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
2009†	Phoenix	11	0	16.9	.493	.000	.829	4.3	0.3	0.4	0.5	0.6	8.8
2010	Phoenix	4	0	22.8	.458	.750	.833	3.3	0.5	0.7	1.7	0.7	7.5
2011	Phoenix	5	5	35.8	.348	.217	.857	9.4	1.2	1.4	1.2	1.6	12.6
2013	Phoenix	5	5	35.8	.333	.133	.857	5.2	3.4	1.2	0.4	2.2	10.4
2014†	Phoenix	8	8	35.8	.360	.333	.905	6.0	2.0	1.3	0.6	1.7	11.3
2015	Phoenix	4	4	31.6	.451	.450	.933	6.0	2.5	0.2	0.7	2.7	17.3
2016	Phoenix	5	0	24.2	.426	.000	.824	4.2	1.6	1.0	0.0	2.8	10.8
2018	Phoenix	7	7	38.6	.535	.308	.909	11.1	2.4	1.5	0.8	2.1	24.0
Career	8 years, 1 team	49	29	29.4	.433	.271	.869	6.2	1.6	1.0	0.7	1.7	12.7

Bonner (left) playing for Nadezhda Orenburg against Fenerbahçe.

International career

During the WNBA offseason, Bonner has played in the Czech Republic for BK Brno, Spain for Baloncesto Rivas and CB Avenida, and Russia for Nadezhda Orenburg.^[6][7]

References