Phoenix Mercury’s Sami Whitcomb, left, and DeWanna Bonner celebrate after winning Game 4 of a WNBA basketball playoff semifinals series against the Minnesota Lynx, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025, in Phoenix. (Photo by Samantha Chow/Associated Press)

PHOENIX – Social media has chiseled away at the gap between athletes and fans, but it often come with a cost for athletes who try to connect with their fans.

Phoenix Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner can attest to that after her recent experience with the Indiana Fever.

Even after helping propel her team past the Minnesota Lynx 86-81 Sunday in Game 4 that sent the Mercury to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2021, she’s still not past all the damage.

Before the Indiana Fever released her June 25, that team’s fans voiced their disapproval of Bonner on social media, with multiple posters directing hate toward her personally through direct messages. One fan went as far as to say that Bonner was a “black cloud in the Indiana Fever locker room.”

“I don’t know if I’ve overcome it yet,” Bonner said. “It’s been like a whirlwind. I’ve went through a lot, especially the cyberbullying and things like that.”

The situation turned for Bonner when the Mercury reached out, and she agreed to return to the Valley, where she spent 10 years of her career, to help a hard-nosed group of players become champions.

Playing in her comfort zone, Bonner dropped 13 points off the bench in Sunday night’s clinching victory at PHX Arena, including a trio of clutch 3-pointers that completed the 13-point comeback for the Mercury in the fourth quarter.

Phoenix Mercury mascot Scorch waves a flag before a playoff WNBA game against the Minnesota Lynx at PHX Arena on Sep. 26, 2025, in Phoenix. Both home games in the semifinal series were well attended. (Photo by Evan Barcanic/Cronkite News)

“We went and got her for a reason,” coach Nate Tibbetts said. “I told her after the game that the first three games weren’t a big enough moment for her. She needed a fourth quarter to step up.”

Bonner was uncharacteristically struggling in Indiana, posting her lowest player efficiency rating of her 16-year career (12.1), as well as several other career-low statistical outputs.

Since returning to Phoenix, she has become a weapon for Tibbetts off the bench and leader in the locker room who brings Finals experience from her time with the Connecticut Sun.

And as the streamers rained down from the rafters and the court became flooded with cameras and smiling faces, Bonner took a moment to soak it all in as the sellout crowd of nearly 17,000 grew to a roar, a moment that felt all too familiar.

“I’m home,” Bonner said. “The love has been real since I’ve been back here, and there’s no greater feeling than putting on that jersey for me. Different number, but nothing feels better than wearing ‘Mercury’ across my chest.”

The WNBA Finals is no stranger to Bonner and Alyssa Thomas, who helped shape out the second-oldest team in the league. With age comes experience, and that was at the heart of general manager Nick U’Ren’s roster construction.

“You need veterans in this profession,” Tibbetts said. “The regular season is one thing, but in the playoffs they step up and they’ve done that.”

Although Phoenix was home for Bonner for 10 years, she had to become reacquainted with a franchise that has transformed since Mat Ishbia purchased the franchise along with the Phoenix Suns.

Phoenix Mercury guard Kahleah Copper, left, celebrates a 3-pointer in the face of Minnesota Lynx guard Courtney Williams during a WNBA playoff game at PHX Arena on Sep. 26, 2025, in Phoenix. (Photo by Evan Barcanic/Cronkite News)

“It’s so crazy because I came back and I’m like ‘It feels totally different,’” Bonner said. “It’s the same, it’s the Phoenix Mercury, but stepping into what they’ve done to improve the practice facility and the apartments and everything, it’s totally different. I feel like I’m on a whole new franchise.”

Vince Kozar, president of the team, was the only person Bonner recognized since being traded in 2020 to the Sun, but that didn’t stop her from building connections with teammates like Thomas and Satou Sabally while rekindling her love for the famed “X-Factor” fans.

Thomas flirted with another triple-double, finishing with 21 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, while Sabally led the Mercury in scoring with 23 points as Phoenix capped off an electric night of shooting, rallying from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit. The Mercury hit 10 of 12 shots in the fourth quarter, including four of five from 3-point distance.

What stood out even more was the knack for the big shot, as Phoenix finished with 11 3-point field goals and shot 39.3% from behind the arc. Bonner was 3-for-3 in the fourth.

For Sabally, who made three of seven attempts from 3-point range in the game, there’s no better feeling than watching a big shot fall in front of a home crowd.

“It’s electrifying,” Sabally said. “They always call me dramatic. When you on that court, all you’re worried about is the zone and your teammates and you’re living in the flow. When you hear the gym just roaring and when you feel it shaking, it just fuels you.”

On the defensive side of the ball, Phoenix continued to rack up the total rebounds with 37, seven of which came on offense. While the Mercury’s work within the paint wasn’t as sharp, their ability to limit the damage at the 3-point line gave them a considerable edge.

Overall, the offensive and defensive outburst from the Mercury put salt in the wounds of the Lynx, who were without their star forward Napheesa Collier and coach Cheryl Reeve in Sunday night’s game.

Much of this WBNA semifinals series was spirited. On Friday, Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve confronted referee Isaac Barnett. The incident contributed to her suspension from Sunday’s game. (Photo by Evan Barcanic/Cronkite News)

Reeve became visibly upset with officials during Game 3 on Friday after Collier was injured on a steal by Thomas. She was eventually ejected, then suspended for Game 4 after confronting some fans on her way off the floor and blasting officials and the WNBA in her postgame remarks.

Veteran guard Kayla McBride did her best to carry the extra weight by dropping a season-high 31 points, but the hole was too big to fill.

“It was a struggle for three quarters,” Tibbetts said. “I give Minnesota a ton of credit. That organization, that team, they’ve got some really good players and what McBride did was super impressive.”

The Lynx will go home after the WNBA semifinals for the second year in a row, and for a tenured player like McBride, the weight disappointment takes a toll.

“I’ve been here five years, and to be so close, you just want it for those people,” McBride said. “It doesn’t get as good, it doesn’t get any better than what we have in that locker room.”

Now all that’s left to do for the Mercury is wait in anticipation for who will move on to face them in the WNBA Finals after a winner-takes-all Game 5 between the Fever and the Las Vegas Aces.

While it may have been easy for Bonner and others to get caught up in the exhilaration of a potential Mercury-Fever matchup, Bonner wasn’t biting.

“We’re just trying to celebrate our win tonight, that’s about it,” Bonner said.