DeWanna Bonner

Early life

Bonner was born on August 21, 1987 in Fairfield, Alabama, to LaShelle Bonner and Greg McCall. She has three siblings, sister Vin'Centia Dewberry, brother Justin McCall, and sister Erica McCall (with whom she shares a birthday).

Bonner attended high school at Fairfield High School in Fairfield, Alabama. She was named McDonald's and WBCA All-American and participated in their All-America games. She earned USA Today Junior All-America and was the Gatorade Alabama Player of the Year while at Fairfield High School. She was featured in USA Today in 2005 as one of the nationwide Top 25 recruits.

College career

Bonner went to Auburn University, where she earned a degree in psychology. She was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team. She scored double figures in 22 games during the 2005–06 season and led the Tigers with a 13.5 points per game average, the first time since 1980–81 that a freshman led the team in scoring.

In 2009, Bonner was named SEC Player of the Year and a National Player of the Year finalist, she broke the Auburn career scoring record during the Ole Miss game at the SEC Tournament. She finished her career with 2,162 points, nearly 100 more than the former school record. Bonner led the SEC in scoring that season, becoming the first Auburn player to ever earn the honor. She also ranked 10th in the country in scoring while setting the Auburn single-season scoring record with 716 points, 21.1 per game.

In 2009, she earned WBCA/State Farm, USBWA, AP and ESPN.com All-America honors and was voted the Alabama Sports Writers Association Amateur Athlete of the Year.

She finished her college career as Auburn's second all-time rebounder with 1,047, placing her among three Tigers with more than 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. At the time of her graduation, she ranked sixth in blocks, seventh in steals, first in free throws, fourth in field goals and tenth in three-pointers.

Professional career

WNBA

Phoenix Mercury (2009–2019)

Bonner was selected fifth overall in the 2009 WNBA draft by the Phoenix Mercury. In her first regular season game with the Mercury, Bonner played 26 minutes and scored 16 points. She won a championship with the Mercury during her rookie season.

On September 12, 2014, Bonner won her second WNBA Championship with the Mercury, scoring 12 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists in the clinching game.

In 2017 Bonner sat out the season due to pregnancy. She returned to the team in 2018 and was voted into the 2018 WNBA All-Star Game. The Mercury made the 2018 playoffs as the fifth seed and were one game away from reaching the finals as they lost in five games to the Seattle Storm in the semi-finals.

Connecticut Sun (2020–2024)

On February 11, 2020, Bonner was traded to the Connecticut Sun in exchange for three first-round draft picks.

Indiana Fever (2025)

On February 2, 2025, Bonner signed a one-year contract with the Indiana Fever. On May 17, in her regular season debut for the Fever, Bonner became the number three all-time leading scorer in the WNBA, passing Tina Thompson. Bonner began the season, starting the first three games; however, she came off the bench for the following six games (with Lexie Hull getting the starting nod). Since the Fever's June 13 game, Bonner had been listed on injury reports as unavailable due to "personal reasons." The next day, the Fever announced that they had waived Bonner, who in her own words stated she "felt the fit did not work out" and she preferred to play for teams such as the Phoenix Mercury or the Atlanta Dream. Fever general manager, Amber Cox, spoke to the press on June 26 and stated that Bonner expressed her dissatisfaction "nine, ten games [into the season]" and that equal trade opportunities were sought but no suitable trade options were found which resulted in Bonner being waived.

Return to Phoenix (2025–present)

Bonner returned to the Mercury on July 8, 2025.

Overseas

During the WNBA offseason, Bonner has played in the Czech Republic for BK Brno, Spain for Baloncesto Rivas and CB Avenida, and Russia for Nadezhda Orenburg.

International career

Bonner joined the US women's youth team in 2006, winning the 2006 FIBA Americas Under-20 Championship for Women and the FIBA Under-21 World Championship for Women one year later.

In March 2018, Bonner received a Macedonian passport and became eligible to play for the North Macedonia national basketball team. She played her first game for North Macedonia in 2021 as part of the EuroBasket Women 2023 qualification, scoring 11 points with 9 rebounds in a victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Career statistics

WNBA

Regular season

Stats current as of end of 2025 season |- | 34 || 0 || 21.3 || .457 || .154 || .812 || 5.8 || 0.4 || 0.6 || 0.7 || 1.0 || 11.2 |- | 32 || 4 || 25.4 || .465 || .358 || .840 || 6.1 || 1.3 || 0.6 || 1.2 || 1.2 || 12.0 |- | 34 || 5 || 25.2 || .430 || .343 || .909 || 7.0 || 0.8 || 1.0 || 1.0 || 1.0 || 10.7 |- | 32 || 32 || 35.0 || .364 || .283 || .852 || 7.2 || 2.2 || 1.7 || 0.8 || 2.3 || 20.6 |- | 34 || 33 || 32.9 || .410 || .325 || .901 || 5.8 || 2.4 || 1.1 || 0.3 || 1.6 || 14.5 |- | 34 || 34 || 29.2 || .459 || .279 || .780 || 4.1 || 2.3 || 1.4 || 0.4 || 1.3 || 10.4 |- | 33 || 33 || 33.3 || .378 || .254 || .866 || 5.7 || 3.3 || 1.3 || 0.8 || 1.8 || 15.8 |- | 34 || 24 || 31.3 || .424 || .329 || .798 || 5.4 || 2.4 || 1.2 || 0.6 || 1.6 || 14.5

Playoffs

|- | 11 || 0 || 16.9 || .493 || .000 || .829 || 4.3 || 0.3 || 0.4 || 0.5 || 0.6 || 8.8 |- | 4 || 0 || 22.8 || .458 || .750 || .833 || 3.3 || 0.5 || 0.7 || 1.8 || 0.7 || 7.5 |- | 5 || 5|| 35.8 || .348 || .217 || .857 || 9.4 || 1.2 || 1.4 || 1.2 || 1.6 || 12.6 |- | 5 || 5 || 35.8 || .333|| .133 || .857 || 5.2 || 3.4 || 1.2 || 0.4 || 2.2 || 10.4 |- | 8 || 8 || 35.8 || .360 || .333 || .905 || 6.0 || 2.0 || 1.3 || 0.6 || 1.7 || 11.3 |- | 4 || 4 || 31.6 || .451 || .450 || .933 || 6.0 || 2.5 || 0.2 || 0.7 || 2.7 || 17.3 |- | 5 || 0 || 24.2 || .426 || .000 || .824 || 4.2 || 1.6 || 1.0 || 0.0 || 2.8 || 10.8 |- | 7 || 7 || style="background:#D3D3D3"|38.6° || .535 || .308 || .909 || 11.1 || 2.4 || 1.6 || 0.8 || 2.1 || 24.0 |- | 1 || 1 || 33.0 || .357 || .667 || .900 || 6.0 || 2.0 || 1.0 || 0.0 || 2.0 || 21.0 |- | 7 || 7 || 35.0 || .333 || .286 ||style="background:#D3D3D3"|1.000° || 10.4 || 3.9 || 1.9 || 1.1 || 2.6 || 15.4 |- | 4 || 4 || 35.0 || .404 || .400 || .909 || 7.0 || 1.3 || 1.0 || 1.8 || 2.8 || 13.5 |- | 12 || 12 || 31.5 || .341 || .294 || .886 || 5.8 || 3.6 || 1.5 || 0.7 || 1.7 || 12.2 |- | 7 || 7 || 36.9 || .385 || .365 || .774 || 8.3 || 3.4 || 1.0 || 1.6 || 1.6 || 18.1 |- | 7 || 7||33.4||.396||.378||.929||7.9||2.9||1.9||0.6||1.4||16.0 |- | 11 || 1 || 26.2 || .400 || .294 || .750 || 6.8 || 1.0 || 1.0 || 0.6 || 0.5 || 9.1 |- class="sortbottom" | 98 || 68 || 30.8 || .401 || .309 || .874 || 6.8 || 2.2 || 1.2 || 0.8 || 1.6 || 13.2

College

|- | 29 ||—||31.4||.422||.303||.691||6.5||1.9||1.4||0.6||2.6||13.5 |- | 32 ||—||29.7||.459||.286||.779||8.1||1.7||1.6||0.9||2.6||15.1 |- | 31 ||—||34.3||.447||.277||.812||10.0||2.1||1.9||1.2||2.8||18.4 |- | 34 ||—||33.0||.482||.339||.845||8.5||1.5||1.7||1.6||2.1||21.1 |- class="sortbottom" | 126 ||—|| 32.1 || .456 || .303 || .795 || 8.3 || 1.8 || 1.7 || 1.1 || 2.5 || 17.2 |}

Personal life

In November 2014, she married fellow WNBA player and former Mercury teammate Candice Dupree. In April 2017, she announced she was pregnant and would miss the 2017 WNBA season. In July 2017, Bonner gave birth to twin daughters.

Bonner and Dupree split up, probably in 2020. She got engaged in 2023 to former Sun and current Mercury teammate Alyssa Thomas, who proposed to Bonner during that year's All-Star weekend.

References

References

1. "DeWanna Bonner Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft Status and More". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA.
2. "DeWanna Bonner - Women's Basketball".
3. (2020-02-11). "Sun trade 3 1st-round picks to sign star Bonner".
4. "Dewanna Bonner".
5. (2024-03-04). "Auburn honors DeWanna Bonner: 'This is my home'".
6. [http://auburntigers.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/bonner_dewanna00.html Auburn Player Profile High School Highlights]
7. (2024-03-04). "Auburn honors DeWanna Bonner: 'This is my home'".
8. (June 7, 2009). "DeWanna Bonner Named ASWA Alabama Amateur Athlete Of The Year".
9. "WNBA.com: Rookies Shine on Opening Night".
10. (July 28, 2018). "Bonner Goes From Having Twins To Being An All-Star In The Twin Cities".
11. (February 2, 2025). "Transactions". NBA Media Ventures, LLC.
12. "Six-Time WNBA All-Star DeWanna Bonner Joins Indiana Fever". NBA Media Ventures, LLC..
13. Peterson, Chloe. (May 17, 2025). "She's been in WNBA for 15 years. DeWanna Bonner got emotional soaking up milestone in sold-out arena". [[Indianapolis Star]].
14. Costabile, Annie. (June 24, 2025). "Fever and Bonner Heading for a Breakup? Here’s What We Know". Front Office Sports.
15. Peterson, Chloe. (June 24, 2025). "DeWanna Bonner, Indiana Fever heading toward a split, possible trade. What we know". [[Indianapolis Star]].
16. (June 25, 2025). "Indiana Fever Sign Guard Aari McDonald Through Remainder of Season". WNBA.
17. Young, Grant. (June 25, 2025). "DeWanna Bonner Waived by Indiana Fever After WNBA Trade Request Attempt".
18. (June 26, 2025). "Indiana Fever GM Amber Cox discusses DeWanna Bonner waiver, Aari McDonald, more".
19. (2025-07-08). "Mercury make signing of veteran Bonner official".
20. "DeWanna Bonner Basketball Player Profile, Phoenix Mercury, Auburn, News, WNBA stats, Career, Games Logs, Best, Awards - usbasket". www.eurobasket.com.
21. "Dewanna Bonner {{!}} EuroLeague Women (2015) {{!}} FIBA Europe".
22. "DeWanna Bonner".
23. (March 12, 2018). "Добредојде, Диуана!".
24. (4 November 2021). "North Macedonia vs Bosnia and Herzegovina - Group Phase - FIBA Women's EuroBasket Qualifiers {{!}} FIBA Basketball Events".
25. (29 May 2025). "Dewanna Bonner (North Macedonia) - Basketball Stats, Height, Age {{!}} FIBA Basketball".
26. "NCAA Statistics".
27. "Inside The W: Love & Basketball for Dupree, Bonner".
28. (March 8, 2017). "DeWanna Bonner To Miss 2017 Season Due To Pregnancy".
29. (September 6, 2017). "How a married WNBA couple is raising newborn twins. 'It's my turn to sacrifice.'".
30. (August 13, 2024). "Sapphic Splits Of The Century".
31. O'Kane, Caitlin. (June 24, 2024). "Connecticut Sun's DeWanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas are teammates, and engaged. Here's their love story". [[CBS News]].