WNBA FINALS: LAS VEGAS VS. CONNECTICUT

September 18, 2022

Jonquel Jones

Alyssa Thomas

Courtney Williams

Connecticut Sun

Game 4: Postgame

Las Vegas Aces 78, Connecticut Sun 71

Q. Jonquel, obviously you guys have been to the Finals twice in four years, and semifinals four times in four years. What's it going to take? Do you feel the window is closing, and what do you think it will take to take that Final step?

JONQUEL JONES: I mean, we just lost, so I'm just trying to process this right now. I really wish I could answer that for you right now but all I know is it hurts me, and that's all I'm feeling right now.

Q. AT, obviously it's still raw in the moment but when you look back on what this team was this year and what it meant to you, what are some things you're going to finally reflect on from it?

ALYSSA THOMAS: I mean, nobody expected us to be here, first and foremost. They thought we would lose to Chicago and Dallas, and despite all that, we made it to the Finals. Unfortunately it didn't go the way we wanted it to. We had fun. We played our basketball and we stuck together all year.

Like I said it, just didn't go the way we wanted to.

Q. For you to have the type of playoff moments that you've had, Curt Miller talked about, if he could coach ten Courtney Williams, how significant is it with everything you've gone through the last couple years to show what you can do on this stage?

COURTNEY WILLIAMS: I think it's surreal. I was telling them in the locker room, I feel like I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for these folks sitting here beside me. I went through a lot this off-season and a lot of people threw the towel in on me. These girls right here, were my first phone call, telling me to come here.

I mean, it hurt. Even though we wish that the cards would have been dealt differently for us but I'm grateful, you know what I mean, because nobody had me being here. You know, a lot of people had me out of the league.

You know, to go through what I went through and make it to the Finals, hey, be able to play beside my sisters again, like, I can't even be upset. Like I'm just happy to be here.

Q. For whoever would like to answer it, about Jasmine Thomas, can you speak to just the impact she had? Of course she was removed from the team as far as being in between the lines earlier in the season, but can you speak to the role that she played the rest of the way as far as leadership and being a channel of communication and things of that nature?

JONQUEL JONES: Yeah, she's a leader, and we respect her voice. We respect the things that she has to say. You know, she's been our PG for so many years, so we understand that she sees the game differently.

You know a lot of the ways in which we can impact the game, she's the second or third or fourth coach on the court for us on the sidelines. It was definitely valuable and I appreciated her staying locked in and being committed to us for the entirety of the season while also rehabbing and trying to get back to full strength. Yeah, definitely a voice that we love to hear and somebody that was a leader for us.

Q. AT touched on it a little bit, a lot of guys didn't expect you guys to be here. What is your pride in this group and being able to navigate Jasmine’ss injury and get to this point, and just throughout the entire season, continuing the fight with the elimination games to push Vegas to this point?

JONQUEL JONES: Yeah, this team has heart. This team has a lot of pride. This team, everybody has made sacrifices for us to be able to be back here. And like Courtney said, the chips didn't fall the way we wanted them to. But there's a lot of selflessness and a lot of sacrifices to be able to have this team back together and make this run.

You know, while it's tough and it's disappointing, we get to say that we were one of the last two teams standing and playing for a championship. So I've got a lot of pride and a lot of joy with the moments that I've had with this team and have the ladies that have been ready to play with every night.