{"id":41266,"date":"2025-07-27T23:48:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T23:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/41266\/"},"modified":"2025-07-27T23:48:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T23:48:12","slug":"veronica-burton-makes-happy-wnba-court-return-to-connecticut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/41266\/","title":{"rendered":"Veronica Burton makes happy WNBA court return to Connecticut"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThat was our family time,\u201d Steve said. \u201cBecause I worked at night. Our family time was 5 o\u2019clock in the morning. Getting up, that was our bonding time. I would rebound and she would shoot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WBZWBZ sports director Steve Burton draws a laugh from his his daughter, Golden State gaurd Veronica Burton, after Sunday’s game against the Sun in Uncasville, Conn.Matthew J. Lee\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

But beyond the practicality, Burton was passing down to his daughter some wisdom his father, Ron, instilled in him.<\/p>\n

Ron was an all-American running back at Northwestern and spent six seasons as a halfback for the Patriots. In turn, Steve went on to play quarterback at Northwestern before carving out a career covering Boston sports.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad had a saying,\u201d said Steve, \u2018If you work and everybody else is working, you stay even. If you work while everyone else is sleeping, you can go by \u2019em.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

The philosophy is a part of Veronica Burton\u2019s core to this day.<\/p>\n

After being left unprotected by the Connecticut Sun last season and then being taken in the expansion draft by the Golden State Valkyries, Burton returned Sunday to Uncasville, Conn., as the floor general for a team vying for a playoff spot in its inaugural season.<\/p>\n

It was a homecoming for a player who made a new home for herself across the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fun to watch her,\u201d Steve said. \u201cShe was excited about coming back here. All of a sudden, we go from one coast to the next coast, so it was a big change for us. But she loves where she\u2019s at.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"VeronicaVeronica Burton, battling against the Sun’s Jacy Sheldon (4), has made huge strides in all statistical categories in her first season playing for the expansion Valkyries. Matthew J. Lee\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

By almost any metric, Burton has a strong case for the honor of the WNBA\u2019s Most Improved Player.<\/p>\n

Her scoring (3.1 points per game to 10.7), playmaking (1.9 to now 5.3 assists per game), rebounding (1.4 to 4.3), defense (0.5 to 1.1 steals per game) have all taken huge leaps. And despite suffering their worst loss of the season Sunday against the Sun<\/a>, the 11-13 Valkyries are sitting in ninth place \u2014 miles ahead of the expectations for an expansion team.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Burton is a prime example of a player seizing an opportunity in a new environment. Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase handed Burton the reins at the start of the season. In 24 games, all starts, Burton\u2018s minutes have jumped to 29.0 a night, up from 12.7 coming off the bench a year ago with the Sun. And she\u2019s making the most of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a great opportunity with the expansion draft and a new franchise,\u201d Burton said. \u201cJust any opportunity, I\u2019m grateful for. And I\u2019m just staying in the gym, putting in the work.\u201d<\/p>\n

A year ago, Burton was out of the league, waived by the Dallas Wings before the start of the season. When the Sun signed her to a rest-of-season contract that June, she had the same mindset of gratitude.<\/p>\n

By the end of the season, she was a regular in the rotation and on the floor for every playoff game for a team that came within one win of the WNBA Finals.<\/p>\n

The opportunity not only gave her new life, but gave her confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter that, she knew she could really play in this league,\u201d Steve said.<\/p>\n

\"ValkyrieValkyrie guard Veronica Burton was left on the ground looking for a foul call that never came during Sunday’s game against the Sun. Matthew J. Lee\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

Even with her future uncertain, she came out of that season hunting for ways to improve. She found it in Australia, spending the offseason playing for the Bendigo Spirit<\/a> in the Women\u2019s National Basketball League<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While her defense earned her WNBA minutes, she knew she had to develop offensively in order to stick. She used Australia as her training ground. The style of play was physical. It gave her a chance to learn how to take bumps and hits and still be effective. She came back to the WNBA more hardened offensively.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was able to play in Australia in the offseason and I think that really helped my game and grew me as a player and a leader,\u201d she said. \u201cSo just trying to do what I can in this league, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a solidified role in Golden State, Burton\u2019s mindset hasn\u2019t changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust always trying to find a way to impact a game and win some basketball games \u2014 whatever that may look like,\u201d she said after she notched 10 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and a steal in the 95-64 loss to the Sun<\/a>. \u201cObviously my role does look a little bit different this year compared to years past, but how I play and what I bring doesn\u2019t change necessarily.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, just trying to be vocal, trying to be aggressive, and trying to win games.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ItIt was a tough day for Veronika Burton (left) and the Golden State Valkyries, as Leila Lacan and the host Sun ran away to a blowout win. Matthew J. Lee\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

One a roster full of surprise players having career years, Burton is a standout. Doing it for a team where everyone\u2019s essentially getting a fresh chance begs the question how much of the success she\u2019s enjoying is because of improvement and how much of it is opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a combination of both,\u201d Steve said. \u201cIt\u2019s a combination of being in the right spot at the right time with the right coach. And all of a sudden your confidence grows, you get an opportunity to play, and that\u2019s how she embraced it. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe embraced it as a new opportunity to try and go out there and make a name for herself.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Valkyries had to eat what was essentially a scheduled loss after playing Friday night, then flying across three time zone to play a 1 p.m. game. They turned the ball over a season-high 24 times as a team.<\/p>\n

The Sun celebrated their fourth, and biggest win of the season, and as close to a wire-to-wire effort as they\u2019ve gotten all year.<\/p>\n

\"ProudProud parents Virginia and Steve Burton (back row) gather with their girls (l-to-r) Kayla, Golden State guard Veronica, and Kendall for a picture after Sunday’s game against the Sun. Matthew J. Lee\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

About a half hour after the game, a corner of Mohegan Sun Arena was still bustling with people. While her team got ready to head to Atlanta for a Tuesday matchup with the Dream, Burton hung back to spend some time with family and friends that came to see her homecoming.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to get about 35 tickets,\u201d Steve said.<\/p>\n

Her mother Ginni and sisters Kendall and Kayla buzzed around from flicking camera to flicking camera. Steve smiled for as many as he could until he noticed arena staff checking their watches. Then he tried to shepherd people to the exits.<\/p>\n

Veronica stayed as long as she could, hugging every person that came to support. Grateful as much for the opportunity she got in Connecticut as the one she has now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Connecticut Sun was so good to her and they had such a great team a year ago,\u201d Steve said. \u201cSo it was a blessing that they gave her an opportunity to get back in the league. And now she\u2019s in Golden State and she loves it there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Julian Benbow can be reached at julian.benbow@globe.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThat was our family time,\u201d Steve said. \u201cBecause I worked at night. Our family time was 5 o\u2019clock…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41267,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[13034,99,434],"class_list":["post-41266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-celtics","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}