Phoenix Mercury veteran DeWanna Bonner did not have an easy first half of the 2025 WNBA season. After the disastrous Indiana Fever stint, where she continued to struggle for her role, she was eventually waived. But getting waived came as a blessing in disguise, as she was free to rejoin the Phoenix Mercury. But coming back to Phoenix involved embracing a new role and helping the team in more ways than one.

Not only is she back to being the scoring punch off the bench, but she is also teaching the rookies valuable lessons about navigating the challenges of the playoffs. And since 1/3rd of the Phoenix Mercury roster consists of rookies, this new role is invaluable to the franchise. Speaking to the media about her new role, DeWanna Bonner talked about how she is guiding the rookies.

Addressing her new role, DeWanna Bonner said during her media availability, “I feel like I’ve been talking a lot and help them navigate the ups and downs. You can’t get too high, you can’t get too low. Trying to get them to understand that. One of the rookies came over to me before this game (game one against the Minnesota Lynx) asking, ‘How do you change the page from this series to that series if you haven’t played that well?’ I said, like, this is a whole new series. In playoffs, it doesn’t matter if you get 20 or 1, as long as you win and keep advancing. So, just trying to get them to understand that.”

The Phoenix Mercury’s rookies seem to be heeding her advice as well. In their last game against the Minnesota Lynx, rookies Monique Akoa Makani and Kathryn Westbeld had solid and efficient performances that helped the Mercury steal the home-court advantage from the best team in the league. Although DeWanna Bonner herself struggled in the game with a 2-9 from the field, 4 4-point game, her effect seems to resonate well with the rookies.

With the way she is handling the rookies, it’s clear that the Phoenix Mercury made the right call in bringing her back to the franchise. Sure, some doubted the intention of bringing her back, but throughout the season, all those doubts have quietly vanished. Even in the playoffs, she scored 12 and 14 points in her first two games, which helped Mercury knock off the defending champs. Now, they would hope that she can find her shooting boots and help knock out the number 1 seed as well.

Can the Phoenix Mercury Surprise the Minnesota Lynx?

If we go purely by odds and analytics, the Phoenix Mercury have no business competing with the Minnesota Lynx. But despite that, they came away with a clutch overtime win against the Lynx. This win can have a big impact as the Mercury now only needs to win the next two games at home to progress to their first WNBA final since 2021.

While in game 1 it was the Phoenix Mercury that blew a lead, this time around, the script was flipped as Minnesota let a 20-point lead slip. If the Phoenix Mercury are to win this series, they need to control the pace of the game. They need bigger stars such as DeWanna Bonner to rise and if there is a situation of a big Minnesota run, then stop the bleeding with her scoring.

We’ve already seen the Phoenix Mercury beat out big odds in the previous round, where they basically ended Sandy Brondello’s New York Liberty tenure by eliminating them. Now, the team and all the fans would hope to see a similar ending to this semifinal series against the Minnesota Lynx as well.