Liberty's Jones emotional as WNBA All-Star MVP win caps trying week

CHICAGO -- New York Liberty center Jonquel Jones sat at the dais Saturday evening inside United Center after being named WNBA All-Star Game MVP, becoming the first player in league history to be All-Star MVP, regular-season MVP, Finals MVP and Commissioner's Cup MVP.

This was her moment to be celebrated, but she couldn't stop crying as she reflected on a trying All-Star Weekend that she almost didn't attend. Jones' aunt recently died, and the memorial service was Saturday. Jones said her family supported her in participating in All-Star Weekend.

"I was just talking to my family in the back and just saying how emotional of a weekend it has been," Jones said. "There were a lot of highs and a lot of great moments, and then there were also a lot of lows, too."

Jones dealt with a lot of emotions after Saturday's game, in which she became the first Liberty player and first international player to be named All-Star MVP. She smiled then began to cry when she discussed her appearance Thursday on the StudBudz live feed. During the appearance, Jones was heard telling fellow All-Star Courtney Williams that she believed the Minnesota Lynx deserved to win the WNBA championship over the Liberty in 2024. The clip quickly spread, and Jones faced criticism.

Jones explained that she let her guard down a bit while talking to Williams, a close friend, and was just noting that sometimes having a great team on paper and a great season doesn't end in a championship. She compared it to her 2019 season with the Connecticut Sun, who lost to the Washington Mystics in the Finals.

Jones' eyes welled up as she told reporters she never meant to take away from the Liberty's accomplishment in 2024. She stopped in the middle of speaking to collect herself as her voice wavered.

"I feel like what I said was taken the wrong way, and I'll take accountability for that as well," Jones said. "It was definitely a gut punch for me. Couldn't really enjoy the weekend. I'm getting emotional.

"I don't want people to ever feel like I was doing anything other than trying to put my best foot forward for our team, so I apologize."

Jones spoke at length about her late aunt, recalling family get-togethers and parties with her aunt making food. Jones said the family plans to spread her aunt's ashes at a later date and that she will attend that.

Jones was also emotional seeing Temple women's basketball coach Diane Richardson, who was the coach at Riverdale Baptist School in Maryland when Jones left the Bahamas to play high school basketball in the States. Richardson became Jones' legal guardian.

"She was just crying with me in the back before I came up here," Jones said of Richardson. "When I moved from the Bahamas, a little kid who nobody knew, wasn't on the scene basketball-wise, and she decided to just trust her gut and trust God and open up her home to me, and the rest was history. I also gained a second mother."

Richardson said she remembers Jones working nonstop as a teenager. Whatever she threw at the youngster, the future MVP could take it. Richardson chuckled when asked if she envisioned all this success back then.

"Um, no," Richardson said. "When she came over, she was a little raw. But again, the work ethic. The more I threw at her to get better and get better and get better, she just absorbed it all, and she wanted more."