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See the full story · 2 sourcesJonquel Jones Credit: Sage Zipeto/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
Jones won the MVP in the All-Star Game on Saturday
Jonquel Jones is apologizing for comments she made on a livestream — which came days before she won the WNBA All-Star MVP.
Addressing reporters after the game on Saturday, July 25, the New York Liberty center, 32, teared up regarding the comment she made on the StudBudz livestream that she said was “taken the wrong way.”
On fellow WNBA stars Courtney Williams’ and Natisha Hiedeman’s stream, Jones said she believed the Connecticut Sun deserved to win the 2019 WNBA Finals over the Washington Mystics — and that the Minnesota Lynx deserved to win more than the Liberty in 2024. Jones played for the Sun from 2016-2022 before joining the Liberty in 2023.
“What I said, it didn’t really come out in the way that I meant it,” Jones told reporters on Saturday, as she got emotional. “What I was just saying is that you can have a team that has a lot of chemistry, that is great on paper, that has had a great season and it’s still not enough to get it done and that’s what I was trying to explain to her with that whole clip.”
Jonquel Jones Credit: Geoff Stellfox/Getty
She continued about the Liberty’s run: “Obviously we put our hearts out there on the court in 2024, and I wouldn’t want it to finish any other way. I know what it means to our city. I know what it meant to me and every single player that stepped on the court, put their heart into that and so obviously I feel like what I said was taken the wrong way and I’ll take accountability for that as well and understand that I do have a responsibility when I speak to make sure that I’m representing not just myself but our organization in the right way.”
The 2024 Finals, which the Liberty won in five games, was mired by officiating controversy. Afterwards, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said the series “was stolen from us.”
For Jones’ part, the response to her comments was a “gut punch.”
“New York means a lot to me,” she continued through tears. “The organization means a lot to me. Our locker room, our chemistry, what we built, I never wanted to misrepresent that and I just never wanted people to ever feel like I was doing anything other than trying to put my best foot forward for our team, so I apologize.”
Read the original article on People
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