For the first time in four seasons, the WNBA’s Sixth Player of the Year award is not going to someone on the Las Vegas Aces. Instead, the award will go to a player on the Connecticut Sun, as Brionna Jones’ excellence off of the bench has led to her getting honored by the league.
The WNBA announced that Jones won the award on Thursday afternoon as part of its weeklong award roll-out. Jones received 53 out of a potential 56 votes for the award, with two going to Azurá Stevens of the Chicago Sky and the remaining one going to Myisha Hines-Allen of the Washington Mystics. She is the third player in franchise history to win the award, as Renee Montgomery took it home in 2012 and current teammate Jonquel Jones, who received the honor in 2019, is the most recent non-Aces player to win it.
This one is going home to CT
@_bjones18 is your 2022 @Kia #WNBA Sixth Player of the Year
Off the bench, Jones averaged 13.8 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 1.22 SPG in 25.1 MPG for the @ConnecticutSun #MoreThan pic.twitter.com/xYiWfpYzeF
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 1, 2022
Cooked ‘em on the court all season long.
Brionna Jones is your @Kia Sixth Player of the Year!@_bjones18 | #CTSun pic.twitter.com/hs8U4OV5dS
— Connecticut Sun (@ConnecticutSun) September 1, 2022
Jones, an All-Star selection and the WNBA’s reigning Most Improved Player, was instrumental in the Sun’s 25-11 campaign this year. After starting all 32 games in which she appeared last season, Jones came off the bench in 29 of a potential 36 contests this year, averaging 13.8 points and 5.1 rebounds in 25.1 minutes a night.
Jones and the Sun are in the midst of a WNBA semifinal series against Stevens and the Sky. After Connecticut won Game 1 earlier this week, Chicago was able to bounce back and pick up a victory in Game 2 on Wednesday night.