{"id":627282,"date":"2026-04-25T07:48:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T07:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/627282\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T07:48:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T07:48:16","slug":"dewanna-bonner-talks-rookie-chemistry-as-wnba-preseason-tips-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/627282\/","title":{"rendered":"DeWanna Bonner Talks Rookie Chemistry as WNBA Preseason Tips Off"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Veteran forward DeWanna Bonner is using the WNBA preseason to build momentum with Phoenix Mercury rookies, as the franchise tips off training camp following last season&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/justwomenssports.com\/reads\/phoenix-mercury-upset-minnesota-lynx-advance-2025-wnba-finals-results\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">WNBA Finals run<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Bonner drew attention both for her form and leadership, embracing the energy surrounding the reshaped <a href=\"https:\/\/mercury.wnba.com\/roster\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Phoenix Mercury roster<\/a>. Her return to Phoenix remains one of the notable storylines entering the 2026 season.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking from <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BurnCitySports\/status\/2046329595524424056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2046329595524424056%7Ctwgr%5Ed9656fa380a2a286011a279f4e886c2c3c7b5d6d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fburncitysports.com%2F2026%2F04%2F20%2Fphoenix-mercury-dewanna-bonner-train%2F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">training camp<\/a>, Bonner pointed to the group&#8217;s early chemistry as young players start to enter mix.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They\u2019ve been great, they\u2019ve been about their business. They\u2019ve been real professional,&#8221; Bonner said of the Mercury rookies. &#8220;It\u2019s always great to have new energy in the building.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Recalling her own transition to the WNBA, Bonner talked about wanting to support players through that adjustment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI always check on them and make sure they\u2019re having a good time,\u201d she said. \u201cAlways well taken care of. I just remember being a rookie myself. It\u2019s scary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At 38, the six-time All-Star brings experience to a lineup looking to build off its <a href=\"https:\/\/justwomenssports.com\/reads\/phoenix-mercury-upset-minnesota-lynx-advance-2025-wnba-finals-results\/\" type=\"post\" id=\"29381\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">2025 WNBA Finals<\/a> run. Phoenix retained much of its veteran core in free agency, subsequently reinforcing continuity ahead of training camp.<\/p>\n<p>The WNBA preseason offers an early glimpse at how that group may come together.<\/p>\n<p>For Bonner, her 17th season marks another chapter in a career that <a href=\"https:\/\/justwomenssports.com\/reads\/waived-wnba-vet-dewanna-bonner-rejoins-phoenix-mercury-after-fever-exit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">continues to evolve<\/a>. A two-time WNBA champion and one of the league&#8217;s all-time leading scorers, she&#8217;s expected to play a major role in Phoenix&#8217;s frontcourt.<\/p>\n<p>How to Watch DeWanna Bonner in 2026 WNBA Preseason Games<\/p>\n<p>The Mercury tips off its <a href=\"https:\/\/justwomenssports.com\/reads\/how-to-watch-wnba-preseason-games-2026\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">WNBA preseason schedule<\/a> against the Chicago Sky on Saturday at 4 PM ET. <\/p>\n<p>Fans can stream all the preseason action via\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wnba.com\/leaguepass?plan=annual\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">WNBA League Pass<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Veteran forward DeWanna Bonner is using the WNBA preseason to build momentum with Phoenix Mercury rookies, as the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":627283,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[200036,104805,49,48,16298,3461,82,630],"class_list":["post-627282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-2026-wnba-preseason","tag-2026-wnba-season","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-dewanna-bonner","tag-phoenix-mercury","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}