Few teams will enter the 2023 WNBA Playoffs with as much momentum as the Connecticut Sun.
Connecticut has won four of its last five games, and at 27-12 has the third best record in the league. Forward Alyssa Thomas has been the team’s engine, averaging 15.7 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists per game.
But Thomas’ spectacular season with the Sun almost didn’t happen, she revealed on a recent episode of the Queens of the Court podcast. The day after Connecticut lost to the Las Vegas in the WNBA Finals, Thomas was on a plane to Australia for the FIBA World Cup pondering her future.
After the Suns’ second finals loss in four years, Thomas conceded she was “thinking about” moving on to another team.
“I was super overwhelmed, didn’t get to process the loss in the finals, which was tough to make it that far. I felt like I was stuck in a cycle of doing the same thing over and over again,” she said.
Thomas ultimately decided to return to Connecticut, in part because of an overhaul in the team’s coaching staff: The Sun hired Stephanie White to be the new head coach in November, and then White brought on Abi Olajuwon and Briann January as assistants, both of whom are first-time WNBA coaches.
“At times, it’s teaching them as well, and bringing them along, and showing them the different things about teams, just the ins and outs and things you pick up over the years,” Thomas said of Olajuwon and January. “For me, it’s been a lot of fun, like I said. It’s been extremely refreshing. I love our offense. I love the energy that they bring. I love this team.”
The Sun have the third best record in the league at 27-12 entering their final game of the regular season, Sunday against the Chicago Sky,