	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

WNBA ALL-STAR GAME 2017

July 22, 2017

Jonquel Jones

Seattle, Washington - Postgame

West - 130, East - 121

JONQUEL JONES: It was awesome being there for my first All-Star Game. Seattle was a great place, great host. We had an awesome time. First event was the Space Needle, had a chance to go up there. But this has been a great experience. This has been something that I guess I looked forward to it, but I didn't -- wasn't really able to, I guess, think of all the things that would happen here, but it's been awesome. My teammates were great.

Just like a perfect experience.

Q. You were on the floor today with the best players in the world, some of the best players who have ever played, and you had a really good day. Can you just talk about what that was like?
JONQUEL JONES: Yeah, I just wanted to go out, have fun, be safe, but still play hard, and so it was great to be able to go out there, play against some players that I've watched growing up looking up to, and now I'm on the same court as them. With it being my second season in the league I didn't expect this to happen to quickly, so I just wanted to go out there and take advantage of the opportunity.

Q. Do you think and do you plan to become the best player in the world?
JONQUEL JONES: Ooh, okay, that's a -- I mean, I think I just want to keep getting better. I want to be able to say that I was the best player that I could be in my prime when it's all said and done, and if that's being the best in the world, then hey, I'll take it. But I think I'm a long ways away from that, but I'm definitely going to work towards it for sure.

Q. Sue [Bird] mentioned that you apologized after the game for missing her party. Was that the secret, just getting a lot of rest while everybody else was having fun?
JONQUEL JONES: Right, yeah, I felt bad because I had all intentions of going. I went to the Nike event, and when I got back to my room, I think everything just finally started catching up to me because I think the whole day I was running off adrenaline, just excited to be here, excited to go to all the different events, and that was the first time in the day that I had actually slowed down, and it just hit me like a freight train, and I was like, man, I can't make it. I took a shower and I passed out. So that's the plan, I guess; if I'm here again next year, I've got to do it again.

Q. I just wanted to get your opinion. You talked about having influences in your career, and with Sue Bird playing in her 16th season here, what kind of influence did she have on you, if any, and what can you say about what you've seen in her career?
JONQUEL JONES: Yeah, she definitely had an influence on me in my career. I grew up watching her play, the great games at UConn. She's come into the league, and she's just left her mark on this league. I think the way she carries herself and being an ambassador for the game is probably the biggest thing that I look at, and not saying that she's not done awesome things on the basketball court, but I just want to be able to, I guess, be like her later on in my career and just, I guess, early, too, but just trying to further the game and making sure that I reach out to younger players as they come into the league and letting them know that I'll be there for them and helping them every step of the process. And I think that's what makes our league special. I think the older players in this league are genuine and they really want to see the league thrive, and they want to see the game of basketball, especially women's basketball, further.

Q. Going off of that, talk about Seattle as hosts and what the city, not just the Storm, were able to allow the players to do as far as interacting with fans that have been supporting the league and hopefully that become fans.
JONQUEL JONES: Well, like I said before, Seattle is a great host. I think all the different events that they had just allowed everyone who wanted to be a part of All-Star weekend to, I guess, be a part of all of the different activities and stuff like that. But I think Seattle is just -- it's like a perfect location because you have that city life and then you have, I guess, all the different things that the city has to offer. Any time you're in a place like this, it's hard not to have a good time because it's just such a unique place and such a special place, and so if I ever get a chance to come back again for another All-Star in Seattle, it would definitely be a pleasure and something that I would look forward to, and for my first one, it's been awesome.

Q. In the lead-up to the draft, you put up these types of numbers at GW, but there was concern around the league, you did it in a non-Power Five conference. I'm wondering whether you think that what you have done already will change and should change the way the league evaluates players outside of those Power Five conferences.
JONQUEL JONES: Oh, I think teams in, I guess, conferences that aren't Power Five conferences have a hard time because -- how do I say it? Like I guess their wins aren't really looked at as valuable as other wins when they play against certain teams, and I think when the NCAA Tournament comes around, like it's really hard to get a seed where they're able to really do something and really make their mark, like they take a tougher road.

I think it's more about coaches just being able to get in there and actually watch a practice, watch the players' personality, their mentality, the way they approach the game, and I guess when they play against teams in the Power Five conferences be able to come out to different games as stuff like that, as well.

But I think it definitely -- if I can help other players from the A-10 and some of the other conferences have an opportunity for more coaches to come in and see them for them to further their basketball careers, then I'm all for it, and I think everybody deserves a fair shot.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297