How to do you know you are playing outside your mind during a rough 2-4 start to the season? You win the Western Conference Player of the Week.
It was announced today, June 4th that DeWanna Bonner of the Phoenix Mercury won the award after averaging 20.7 PPG and 10.7 RPG in the teams' three games this past week. The team overall went 1-2 in those games, but Bonner was consistently great in each of them.
On Thursday she notched a double-double scoring 22 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in the road loss to the Atlanta Dream. She then backed that up in a back-to-back against San Antonio with 17 points and 9 rebounds. That was nearly another double-double for Bonner on the young season, she has two already. Bonner is also creeping up on Jennifer Gillom's team record for "20+ point 10+ rebound" games. For her career she has seven, the franchise record is eight.
Bonner finished off the week with a 23 point 13 rebound performance against the Tulsa Shock to give the team some confidence and momentum. Her performance against Tulsa showcased her versatility as she played all five positions, and played them well.
A win followed by some recognition for the team. This could be a turning point in the season for Mercury as they try to make a push against the teams that beat them early in the season, at Los Angeles (Friday, June 8th) and verse Minnesota (Friday, June 15th) over the next two weeks.