Jonquel Jones chokes up upon receiving prestigious WNBA Finals MVP award: "Y'all know how many times I've been denied"

Jonquel Jones helped the New York Liberty win their first-ever WNBA championship on Sunday night. Jones was emotional after being named the WNBA Finals MVP for her efforts in the five-game series against the Minnesota Lynx.

The former league MVP averaged 17.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in the WNBA Finals. She had a team-high 17 points with six rebounds in Game 5, bailing out the cold-shooting duo of Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart. The Liberty survived a scare in the fourth quarter, with Stewart forcing overtime with two clutch free throws.

"I could never dream of this," Jones said, according to Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press. "Y'all know my story. Y'all know how many times I've been denied. It was delayed. That's all it was and I'm so happy to do it here."

The New York Liberty acquired Jonquel Jones from the Connecticut Sun before the 2023 WNBA season. Jones requested a trade out of Connecticut and landed in the Big Apple to form a superteam with Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu. They made it to the WNBA Finals last year but were denied by the Las Vegas Aces.

New York returned with a vengeance this season, sealing the best regular-season record in the league. They beat the Atlanta Dream in the first round and avenged their WNBA Finals loss in the second round by eliminating the back-to-back champion Aces in four games.

The Minnesota Lynx were a handful, especially after stealing Game 1 on the road. It became a back-and-forth series, which could go down as one of the best in WNBA history.

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Jonquel Jones' journey to becoming WNBA Finals MVP

Jonquel Jones started her career in Connecticut. (Photo: IMAGN)

Jonquel Jones began her basketball journey at Clemson before transferring to George Washington after her freshman season in 2013. Jones entered the 2016 WNBA Draft and was selected sixth overall by the LA Sparks.

However, the Bahamas native was acquired by the Connecticut Sun in a draft day trade involving Chelsea Gray and two first-round picks. She primarily came off the bench as a rookie before earning a starting spot in her second year, wherein she won Most Improved Player of the Year.

Jones was demoted back to the bench in her third season before another breakout campaign the next year. She opted not to play during the COVID-19 season in 2020 and returned with a vengeance a year later to have the best year of her career, winning WNBA MVP.

After failing to win the WNBA championship with the Sun in 2022, Jones requested a trade and landed in New York. Two seasons later, she can finally call herself a WNBA champion and WNBA Finals MVP.