Of the three marquee free agents who signed with the New York Liberty during the 2023 offseason, two—Breanna Stewart and Courtney Vandersloot—brought championships with them to Brooklyn, with Stewart winning two titles with the Seattle Storm in 2018 and 2020 and Vandersloot triumphing in 2021 with the Chicago Sky.
Jonquel Jones twice has come up short in the WNBA Finals, losing the Washington Mystics in 2019 and the Las Vegas Aces last season as a member of the Connecticut Sun.
Yet, if the Liberty are to defeat the Aces and win the franchise’s first championship, Jones, not Stewart or Vandersloot, must lead. From the moment Game 1 of the WNBA Finals tips off at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas, Jones needs to be in Bahamian Beast-mode, playing with assertiveness and aggression on both ends of the floor.
Jones swung the Liberty-Aces season series
There already is evidence that Jones is the x-factor in the Liberty’s matchup with the Aces.
In late June, when Jones still had not settled into the season due the lingering effects of an…
