With less than 10 games remaining until the WNBA's postseason begins, a veteran forward is hitting the open market. DeWanna Bonner is a free agent after reaching a buyout agreement with the Phoenix Mercury, the team announced on Monday, Aug. 24.
This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Future Hall of Famer DeWanna Bonner hits free agency after reaching buyout agreement with Phoenix

#dewanna

Why the Mercury are buying out DeWanna Bonner's contract originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Phoenix Mercury will not make the WNBA playoffs in 2026. That was fairly clear when last season's finalists began this year with a 2-8 record, but it was mathematically confirmed in a loss to the Atlanta Dream on Saturday.
On Monday, the Mercury announced it had reached an agreement with veteran forward DeWanna Bonner over a contract buyout. The 38-year-old came up just short in last season's WNBA Finals, and Phoenix now is affording her a chance to latch on with a contender and pursue a third career championship before a possible retirement this winter.
MORE: Alyssa Thomas enters WNBA club of one on night Mercury season ends
"DeWanna has been an important part of our team and brought tremendous leadership, experience and competitiveness to the Mercury," general manager Nick U'Ren said in a statement. "Because of the relationship we have with DeWanna, we worked out a buyout agreement that gives her the opportunity to chase a ****** le in what could be her final postseason. DeWanna will always be part of the Mercury family, and we wish her all the best."

#phoenix

PHOENIX (AP) — Angel Reese scored a career-high 31 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for her 25th double-double of the season and the Atlanta Dream clinched a playoff berth with a 99-89 win over the Phoenix Mercury on Saturday night.
Rhyne Howard added 20 points, Allisha Gray had 17 and Jordin Canada 12 for the Dream (24-13), who have won five of their last six games. They moved a half-game ahead of Indiana, which lost earlier in night, for the fourth seed, with seven games to go for Atlanta.
Kahleah Copper had 38 points for the Mercury (13-24), who were in the WNBA Finals last season, but were eliminated from the playoff chase with the loss.
Alyssa Thomas had her 22nd regular-season triple-double with 11 points, 16 rebounds and 10 ****** ists. Thomas also has six triple-doubles in the playoffs. DeWanna Bonner added 12 points.
Reese, a 43% shooter for the season, was 14 of 21 from the field after going 9 of 9 the previous game. Her previous career high for points was 27 in 2024 when she was a rookie with Chicago. She has set the Atlanta single-season record for double-doubles and is three shy of the league record.

#points

PHOENIX (AP) — Carla Leite scored 23 points and the Portland Fire rallied to beat Phoenix 88-85 on Sunday night, when the Mercury had halftime and postgame ceremonies celebrating franchise icon Diana Taurasi.
Leite had the final two baskets in a 6-0 run and the expansion Fire (15-20) moved in front 81-80 with 1:12 remaining. Portland's Emily Engstler and the Mercury's Kahleah Copper traded baskets before Katie Lou Samuelson hit the second of two foul shots with 20 seconds left to put the Fire up 84-82.
Bridget Carleton blocked a shot by Copper and grabbed the rebound with 12 seconds to go, then sank two free throws for a four-point lead after Copper fouled her. Alyssa Thomas buried a 3-pointer, but Carleton sank two free throws to preserve the win.
Leite shot 9 for 15 and added five ***** ists. Megan DiLeo had 15 points.
DeWanna Bonner scored 23 to lead Phoenix (13-23). Copper totaled 19 points and seven rebounds. Thomas finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds, falling one ***** ist shy of a triple-double.

#leite

In the 30 days since Sophie Cunningham directed a prolonged point at DeWanna Bonner—and became a viral meme in the process—the Indiana Fever guard has gained more than a million followers on both Instagram and TikTok, according to digital **** ytics firm Social Blade.
For comparison, fellow Fever guard and WNBA megastar Caitlin Clark gained roughly 160,000 followers on Instagram during the same period. Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers and Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese—other faces of the league—gained approximately 8,500 and lost around 3,000, respectively.
Though Cunningham’s freshly supercharged Instagram follower count of 2.6 million is still well behind that of Clark (3.8 million), Bueckers (3 million) and Reese (5.2 million), her engagement rate—a metric of utmost importance to advertisers and brand partners—is much higher. Per Social Blade, Cunningham averages approximately 300,000 likes and 3,000 comments per post on the platform; Bueckers’s typical engagement—235,000 likes and 1,000 comments a post—is the next closest.
This isn’t Cunningham’s first surge since joining the Fever last year.
The guard—who had a relatively low profile during her six previous seasons with the Phoenix Mercury—earned a reputation as Caitlin Clark’s “enforcer” after getting into a brawl with then-Connecticut Sun guard Jacy Sheldon during a June 2025 Commissioner’s Cup game. Shortly after the incident, Cunningham launched a podcast with Colin Cowherd’s digital media network, The Volume. (The podcast, called Show Me Something, is co-hosted by Cunningham’s high school classmate West Wilson, formerly of Bravo’s Summer House.)

#guard #Instagram #gained

INDIANAPOLIS — Sophie Cunningham said Wednesday she was "not surprised" by her exclusion from this year's WNBA 3-point competition.
"The league always gets in the league's way," she said before the Indiana Fever's game vs. the Connecticut Sun.
"I would have done it," Cunningham later added. "I would have loved to win some money. I need to buy a boat, so that would have been fun. But it's fine."
The Fever veteran wing ranks second in 3-point percentage (43.7%) and averages around two makes per game (4.1 attempts). She finished last season third in 3-point percentage, firing a career-best 43.2% in 30 games.
Beyond basketball, the entertainment value Cunningham would have brought the event is undeniable. She recently went viral for pointing her finger at Phoenix Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner during an in-game skirmish and has become one of the WNBA's most recognizable personalities.

#game #percentage #wednesday

INDIANAPOLIS — Sophie Cunningham said Wednesday she was "not surprised" by her exclusion from this year's WNBA 3-point competition.
"The league always gets in the league's way," she said before the Indiana Fever's game vs. the Connecticut Sun.
"I would have done it," Cunningham later added. "I would have loved to win some money. I need to buy a boat, so that would have been fun. But it's fine."
The Fever veteran wing ranks second in 3-point percentage (43.7%) and averages around two makes per game (4.1 attempts). She finished last season third in 3-point percentage, firing a career-best 43.2% in 30 games.
Beyond basketball, the entertainment value Cunningham would have brought the event is undeniable. She recently went viral for pointing her finger at Phoenix Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner during an in-game skirmish and has become one of the WNBA's most recognizable personalities.

#cunningham #wednesday #connecticut

Indiana Fever wing Sophie Cunningham gave a surprise performance as a ring girl at a UFC fight in Las Vegas on July 11. The fight was between Paddy Pimblett and Benoit Saint Denis was part of UFC 329 during UFC's International Fight Week.
Cunningham was ringside when she kicked off her shoes and made a quick lap around the ring for "octagon card duties." It was a short-lived stint as Saint Denis was choked unconscious in less than a minute, ending the fight in one round.
Cunningham is a Fever fan-favorite and soared to popularity as Caitlin Clark's enforcer, a role that landed her a famous flagrant foul and nearly a million social media followers last season.
She recently went viral again for a 22-second-long "point" at DeWanna Bonner during the June 22 game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The point also became a viral meme.
Cunningham is in Las Vegas this week, along with the rest of the Fever, for an upcoming match against the Las Vegas Aces at Michelob ULTRA Arena at 9 p.m. July 12.

Indiana Fever wing Sophie Cunningham gave a surprise performance as a ring girl at a UFC fight in Las Vegas on July 11. The fight was between Paddy Pimblett and Benoit Saint Denis was part of UFC 329 during UFC's International Fight Week.
Cunningham was ringside when she kicked off her shoes and made a quick lap around the ring for "octagon card duties." It was a short-lived stint as Saint Denis was choked unconscious in less than a minute, ending the fight in one round.
Cunningham is a Fever fan-favorite and soared to popularity as Caitlin Clark's enforcer, a role that landed her a famous flagrant foul and nearly a million social media followers last season.
She recently went viral again for a 22-second-long "point" at DeWanna Bonner during the June 22 game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The point also became a viral meme.
Cunningham is in Las Vegas this week, along with the rest of the Fever, for an upcoming match against the Las Vegas Aces at Michelob ULTRA Arena at 9 p.m. July 12.

Indiana Fever star guard Sophie Cunningham couldn't help but recreate her now-iconic pointing meme after her team got the last-second win over the Phoenix Mercury on Thursday night.
Of course, Cunningham pointing at Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner during a two-team tiff turned into the meme of the year, one that has circulated far and wide and arguably made Cunningham into a WNBA household name.
Sophie Cunningham roasted DeWanna Bonner with insult on recent podcast
After a tense back-and-forth Fever game where Cunningham's two free-throws sealed the victory for Indiana, the Fever guard just had to troll the Mercury crowd with that infamous point after the win. Her teammates loved it.
The Fever desperately needed that win after losing to the Los Angeles Sparks in a poor road effort on Wednesday night. Rather than having the Mercury crowd pointing at her to gloat in victory, Cunningham got the last... point.

The Indiana Fever and Phoenix Mercury resume their contentious rivalry in WNBA action tonight, July 9.
The Fever (12-9) and Mercury (8-14) met in Indianapolis on June 22 and 24, splitting the outcomes but igniting a national conversation about player treatment along the way. In the first matchup, a Caitlin Clark-DeWanna Bonner confrontation resulted in five technical fouls. Two nights later, Phoenix's Alyssa Thomas placed her fist on Clark's throat during a loose ball scramble in the second game, prompting a delayed suspension.
Kelsey Mitchell (22.2 points, 40.7% 3-pointers) and Aliyah Boston (17.1 points, 8.6 rebounds, 45.1% 3-pointers) lead the Fever, who lost to the Los Angeles Sparks on Wednesday, July 8. Clark (20.5 points, 7.9 **** ists; back) is out.
Kahleah Copper (20.8 points) and Thomas (14.2 points, 8.2 **** ists, 6.9 rebounds) lead the Mercury.
We will have score updates, stats and highlights, so please remember to refresh.

The Indiana Fever may be in for an interesting night as they visit the Phoenix Mercury in WNBA action tonight, July 9.
The Fever (12-9) and Mercury (8-14) split contentious matchups in Indianapolis on June 22 and 24. A Caitlin Clark-DeWanna Bonner confrontation resulted in five technical fouls in the first game. Phoenix's Alyssa Thomas placed her fist on Clark's throat during a loose ball scramble in the second game, prompting a delayed suspension and igniting a national conversation about player treatment.
Kelsey Mitchell (21.9 points, 39.7% 3-pointers), Clark (21.2 points, 8.2 ******* ists) and Aliyah Boston (17.1 points, 8.6 rebounds, 45.1% 3-pointers) lead Indiana, which lost to the Los Angeles Sparks on Wednesday, July 8.
Kahleah Copper (20.8 points) and Thomas (14.2 points, 8.2 ******* ists, 6.9 rebounds) lead the Mercury.
Here's what you should know about the game:

The Indiana Fever have a developmental roster spot open right now after losing forward Justine ***** ott to the Las Vegas Aces.
With former South Carolina guard Bree Hall occupying one of the spots, who could take the other and join Caitlin Clark and company at Gainbridge Fieldhouse?
Did DeWanna Bonner really leave the Fever in 2025 over Caitlin Clark?
Three rookie forwards and two rookie guards make our list, including one player who has already played with Indiana in the preseason. While the Fever might not be in a hurry to fill one of these spots, we imagine they will in due time.
Let's run through who these players are and why they would make sense to join the Fever in a developmental capacity.

The WNBA unveiled its 2026 All-Star reserves on Tuesday night, officially confirming the full slate of players who will contend during All-Star weekend later this month in Chicago.
However, some pretty notable players didn't make the cut, including the league's leader in ****** ists, one of its top scorers and numerous other impact players who could have made the list in a different circumstance.
Did DeWanna Bonner really leave the Fever in 2025 over Caitlin Clark?
We've gone through and named seven clear "snubs" to us from the WNBA All-Star Game roster. Who didn't make the cut that had a real argument for being there? Well, these seven players certainly qualified to us.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: 7 WNBA All-Star Game snubs for 2026, including 2 Mercury stars

The day the WNBA truly arrives is the day a foul is a foul. Not an inciting event for troll armadas to threaten the people involved. Not an inspiration for craven pundits and politicians to use players as divisive avatars. Not even a reason for teams or coaches to fire blowtorches at each other. When everyone understands it’s all pretty much just basketball, it’ll all be pretty much just fine.
That day is not this day. There’s acid all over what should be a celebratory 30th anniversary season because, apparently, no one can process trash-talking and technical fouls and the occasional fist-to-throat as anything but a cultural reckoning. Death threats and doxxing and a siege on leadership — or lack thereof — are the discourse. Not, you know, wins and losses. A sport gone mad, in every sense.
Let’s go ahead and bring the temperature down. Way, way, way down. Throw the 2026 WNBA season into an ice bath and start reasonably appraising what is happening before our eyes. This is a game played and coached by competitive, passionate people. A game with ****** le intent and some obvious flaws. All true. But … it’s still a game. It would be great if everyone, including many people in the game itself, could keep that front of mind.
In sum, the lid blew off last week after the Indiana Fever and Phoenix Mercury faced each other twice. During the first game, the Fever’s Caitlin Clark and the Mercury’s DeWanna Bonner got tangled up, said some unkind things, and five players wound up with technical fouls in the aftermath. During the second game, the Mercury’s Alyssa Thomas – among those T’d up in the first meeting – wound up on top of Clark during a loose-ball scramble and then propped herself up using Clark’s neck. The officiating crew missed it in real-time, somehow. The league subsequently hit Thomas with a retroactive flagrant foul and one-game suspension.
In a world populated by people who have watched basketball games before, that could have been that. Should have been that. Even if it involved a player as intensely adored as Caitlin Clark. This was competitors at each other’s throats – sure, literally so is a bit much – and variously penalized for it. Maybe throw in a round of sports-yeller commentary, and then it evaporates. Move along. Nothing to see here but the same kind of occasionally rugged moment we’ve seen in sports for as long as sports have existed.

Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas called out the WNBA for its failure to protect players in the fallout of her one-game suspension for committing a flagrant foul on Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark last week.
Thomas said she has been sent death threats, received threats against her family and was called racial slurs online in the days since the incident. She also said addresses have been leaked.
“A lot of us, myself included, didn’t even know the play took place until after the game, and now we’re being painted as thugs and there’s death threats out on us, so it’s really unacceptable, it’s something that needs to change in this league, and I’m just really sick and tired of it,” Thomas said after the Mercury’s practice Tuesday.
Since her suspension, Thomas said she has not heard from league commissioner Cathy Engelbert despite the wave of social media hatred directed at Mercury players. However, a spokesperson for Engelbert said in an email to The Athletic on Tuesday that the commissioner had “exchanged texts and offered to get on a call with Alyssa Thomas last week.” The spokesperson also stated that upon hearing about the threats, Engelbert immediately directed league security to contact Phoenix’s security.
DeWanna Bonner, Thomas’s partner and fellow Mercury forward, said Thomas initiated a text to Engelbert last week, and although Engelbert mentioned meeting with Thomas, she did not reach back out to set up a meeting. Two days before the game that featured Thomas’ flagrant foul, Bonner and Clark starred in a skirmish that culminated in five players receiving technical fouls — including Clark.

Sophie Cunningham's viral 22-second finger-pointing moment followed a heated exchange between Caitlin Clark and DeWanna Bonner
Both Cunningham and Bonner received technical fouls during the altercation in the Fever's June 22 game against the Mercury
Cunningham later called the gesture "the stupidest thing" but admitted it frustrated Bonner and sparked online meme
While the Indiana Fever won the game, Sophie Cunningham won the internet with a memorable gesture — a lengthy finger point — after she helped lead the team to an 86-77 victory over the Phoenix Mercury on Monday, June 22.
The moment occurred after an altercation between Cunningham's Fever teammate, Caitlin Clark, and former Fever player DeWanna Bonner, who now plays for the Mercury. After the referees blew the whistle dead in the fourth quarter, Clark and Bonner got entangled in an exchange of words.

TORONTO (AP) — Kahleah Copper scored 27 points, Valeriane Ayayi had a career-high 20 and the Phoenix Mercury beat the Toronto Tempo 89-80 on Saturday in a game in which both teams were without a top player.
Phoenix played without Alyssa Thomas, who was suspended one game by the WNBA for “recklessly making contact with her fist to the throat area” of Indiana’s Caitlin Clark in the Mercury’s 111-109 victory on Wednesday.
Toronto’s Marina Mabrey was a late scratch due to neck spasms, one game after tying the league record with 53 points in a 125-97 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks.
DeWanna Bonner finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and three steals. Copper made two free throws and Bonner followed a 3-pointer to put Phoenix (7-13) up 78-73 with 4:07 remaining.
Bonner drilled another 3 for an 83-77 advantage and then missed from distance. However, Copper grabbed the rebound and scored for an 85-80 lead with 51 seconds left. Phoenix coach Nate Tibbetts won a challenge that reversed a foul on the Mercury nine seconds later to help preserve the victory.

Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas won't play Saturday after a flagrant foul on Caitlin Clark.
Thomas will miss the Mercury's matchup against the Toronto Tempo (2:00 p.m. ET, CBS) following a Flagrant-2 foul and a one-game suspension for a fist to Clark's throat on June 24. Midway through the second quarter on Wednesday, Clark went to the floor and lost control of the ball while being defended by Lexi Held.
During a scramble for the basketball, Thomas landed on Clark, pushing her fist into Clark's throat. A foul was not called for the incident. The WNBA later suspended Thomas for one game on Thursday and upgraded the non-call to a Flagrant-2 foul. Thomas was also fined $1,000. The 34-year-old can return to play on July 2 when Phoenix hosts Seattle (10:00 p.m. ET, League Pass)
Throughout the week, several Mercury players have voiced support for Thomas, including her wife, DeWanna Bonner. "Forever got your front and your back!! We love you!!" Bonner said on her Instagram story with a photo of the couple.
Multiple Phoenix coaches also shared their thoughts on social media.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Kahleah Copper made 15 of 16 from the free-throw line and finished with 28 points, and the Phoenix Mercury beat Indiana 111-109 on Wednesday night after Fever star Caitlin Clark left with a back injury in the third quarter.
Clark had 19 points and eight ******* ists in 20 minutes the Fever (10-8). Clark, who was a game-time decision due to a lingering back issue, left with 5:15 remaining in the third quarter and did not return.
Alyssa Thomas had 24 points and eight ******* ists, and DeWanna Bonner scored 11 of her 13 points in the second quarter for the Mercury (6-13). Valeriane Ayayi had a career-high 19 points and rookie Noemie Brochant added 12 points, nine ******* ists and a season-high three steals.
Boston was called for a flagrant foul with 2:12 left in the game and the Fever trailing by two. Copper made the ensuing free throws and Ayayi hit two foul shots to make it 104-98 seven seconds later.
Clark had 13 points and three ******* ists as the Fever took a 35-29 lead at the end of the first quarter. Indiana shot 72% (13 of 18) from the field, 5 of 7 (71%) from 3-point range, and hit 4 of 4 from the free-throw line in the opening period.

Per USA TODAY Sports, the WNBA is reviewing a technical foul ***** sed to Caitlin Clark in the Indiana Fever's June 22 victory over the Phoenix Mercury.
The WNBA provided the following statement to the IndyStar and USA TODAY Sports:
"As per WNBA policy, after each game the league reviews all technical fouls. Teams have the ability to provide additional information to the league and request a called technical foul to be overturned. We are in the process of reviewing a request from the Indiana Fever submitted today to rescind Caitlin Clark’s technical foul ***** sed at 07:57 of the fourth period during Monday night’s game against the Phoenix Mercury.”
Indiana's Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham and Myisha Hines-Allen and Phoenix's Dewanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas all received technical fouls following an altercation in the fourth quarter.
"It's ridiculous. I got a technical for clapping, so we should all just go on the calendar now and pick a game that I'm going to be suspended for if I'm going to get technicals for clapping...

INDIANAPOLIS — The WNBA did not rescind the technical foul Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark received in Monday's win over the Phoenix Mercury, the league told The Athletic on Wednesday. Clark's technical foul will stand, which keeps her at five technical fouls on the season. If a player reaches eight technical fouls, they are automatically suspended for one game, per league rules.
"We should all just go on the calendar now and pick a game that I'm gonna be suspended for if I'm gonna get technicals for clapping," Clark said.
Clark was ***** sed a technical foul in the fourth quarter of Monday's game after a dust-up with her former Fever teammate and Phoenix Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner. Clark fouled Bonner, and the two appeared to take exception to the contact, which led both of them to exchange words. While the officials tried to diffuse the situation, Clark began clapping in the direction of Phoenix players, an act the officials deemed as "instigating," according to Clark.
This story will be updated.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark didn’t play with DeWanna Bonner for long, but there’s clearly some bad blood between the former teammates. That bad blood came to a head Monday night, when an altercation between the two led to six technicals and an ejection during the Fever’s 86-77 win over the Phoenix Mercury.
The incident started with just under eight minutes left to play in the contest. While jockeying for position, Bonner and Clark got tied up. A whistle was blown and Bonner ripped herself away from Clark, who followed Bonner and appeared to exchange words with her former teammate.
Multiple players and officials got involved and things eventually reached a point where Clark was hit with a technical foul, her fifth of the season.
Clark was not happy about that call after the contest, calling it “ridiculous.”
"It's ridiculous, I got a technical for clapping. We should all just go on the calendar now and pick a game I'm going to be suspended for if I'm going to get technicals for clapping."