When the 2023 WNBA season tipped-off, the general consensus among fans and media alike was that the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty, the two proclaimed ‘super teams,' were the favorites to meet in the WNBA Finals. As fate would have it, the Aces and Liberty are set to square off next month in the WNBA's Commissioner's Cup Championship which features the the best team record-wise in each conference. While many may believe the Finals matchup is a forgone conclusion, DeWanna Bonner and the Connecticut Sun might have something to say about that.

The Sun currently hold the third best record in the league at 17-6 and they're one of only two teams this season to have beaten the Aces. With new head coach Stephanie White at the helm, they've looked like a team that should be mentioned in the championship contender conversation. And a big reason why the Sun have been near the top of the WNBA standings is the play of DeWanna Bonner.

The 14-year WNBA veteran is having one of the best seasons of her career and is coming off her fifth All-Star appearance. In a league that has become increasingly difficult to make it in, let alone survive this long, Bonner's longevity stands out. For her, the blueprint to have a long career in the WNBA was set back when she was a rookie in 2009 learning from future Hall of Famer Diana Taurasi.

“Coming into my rookie year and playing under Diana, I think I had a great blueprint to where I needed to be in order to last that long in the league,” Bonner said. “I was lucky to be able to play behind her my rookie year so it was like I was able to see the work it takes to make at this level and to this point. Staying in the WNBA this long is rare. I give a little bit of credit to her and also my work ethic. I'm gonna get after it, I'm going to do whatever it takes to be on that court.”

At age 35, DeWanna Bonner is the oldest player on the Sun roster. Before she joined the team as a free agent in 2020, the Sun looked like they were on the verge of becoming a perennial championship contender having just made a run to the WNBA Finals. With All-Stars in Jonquel Jones and Alyssa Thomas, a steady veteran ball-handler in Jasmine Thomas and promising young players like Brionna Jones and Natisha Hiedeman, Bonner looked like the potential missing piece to put them over the top.

Jonquel Jones ended up sitting out the 2020 season in the bubble as the COVID-19 pandemic struck and the Sun sputtered to a 10-12 record. But the following year with everyone available, the Sun shot out to the top of the Eastern Conference only to lose to the eventual champion Chicago Sky in the semifinals. The Sun would make it back to the Finals in 2022 but in the offseason they parted ways with longtime head coach Curt Miller and traded Jones.

Even so, the Sun have emerged as a legitimate championship contender with Bonner at the helm as the team's veteran leader. The only player on the roster with a championship ring from her days with the Phoenix Mercury, being the team's leader was a role that she initially had to adapt to.

“My role changes, I think I learn more and more,” Bonner said. “Most people, when I first came here, thought I was the leader, but that was the first time that I had to step into that leadership role. I've learned so much from the first time that I stepped into that role with Connecticut to now.”

This season, the Sun have a good mix of younger players in Tyasha Harris, DiJonai Carrington and Oliva Nelson-Ododa who are all key pieces in the rotation. One of the ways in which Bonner believes she's grown over the past couple of seasons as a leader has been the way she's been able to relate more to her younger teammates. She's passing on down the blueprint to have a lasting career in the WNBA the way it was done to her when she was in their shoes.

“I think just being more vocal about what it takes, just being vocal,” Bonner said. “I won't say ‘kids,' but the new generation that we have now is based on social media and what they see. But I've actually been through this blueprint and this work before we had social media. You think this what it takes, but this what it really takes because I've been through that before.”

As someone who has been through it all in the WNBA, DeWanna Bonner is having a near career year in her fourth season with the Sun. Through the first 22 games of the season, Bonner is the Sun's leading scorer at 18.1 points per game. That's the third-highest scoring average in her career and the second most points per game average she's reached with the Sun.

She's also averaging 5.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting 43 percent from the field, 36.3 percent from the three-point line and 83.7 percent from the free-throw line. Bonner is taking around 5.6 attempts from three-point range which ties the second-highest mark in her career. She does it all on the court and remains one of the toughest players in the league to guard.

But just because she's a veteran now and has made it this far in the WNBA, that doesn't mean she's done growing as a player. To this day, she's still trying to add to her game and still trying to improve wherever she sees fit. She relished the challenge this season of adapting to a new head coach.

“I think I've learned so much especially this year because we're running a whole new offense and a new defense that I've never experienced before,” Bonner said. “It was just crazy learning her things and I'm just like, there's so much more basketball that I didn't know and that I have to learn. I think I've grown so much with that this year.”