In the words of Phoenix Mercury General Manager Nick U’Ren, the Mercury agreed to let DeWanna Bonner walk away through a contract buyout to give her the opportunity to chase a title in what could be her final postseason. As it appears, that is exactly what she is doing right now with the Atlanta Dream, standing on the edge of a WNBA Finals against the Golden State Valkyries.

But the way WNBA legend Sheryl Swoopes sees it, perhaps it’s the Atlanta Dream who needs a player like Bonner, who could swing a final series in their favor. When asked which player could make the difference against the Golden State Valkyries in the finals, Swoopes pointed to the veteran forward, believing her championship experience could help turn things around for the Dream and ultimately lead them to their first-ever WNBA championship.

“When I look at Atlanta, I’m gonna go with the OG, DeWanna Bonner,” Swoopes said on The Draymond Green Show. “She’s won a championship. She knows what it takes. And they need that. I’m gonna put all the pressure on my OG, DeWanna Bonner, and say she could be the difference.”

Draymond Green also agreed with Swoopes, emphasizing that Bonner’s championship experience could give Atlanta an important advantage in the series.

“That’s nice. Battle-tested,” Green said. “I always tell people, having someone that knows how is one of the biggest weapons you can have. When it comes down to a series, when it comes down to a finals.”

DeWanna Bonner joined the Atlanta Dream on a rest-of-season contract after the Phoenix Mercury were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. The signing was widely hailed as a masterstroke addition to an Atlanta team that had genuine championship ambitions. And judging by everything that has followed, it has been exactly that. 

Since signing on August 27, she has played in ten consecutive games for the Dream, who have gone a perfect 10-0 in that stretch, including their 3-0 semifinal sweep of the New York Liberty. Although her contribution has not been primarily statistical, with stars like Angel Reese and Rhyne Howard carrying the nightly scoring burden, her veteran leadership has been a quietly decisive advantage. 

For example, in Game 1 of the semifinals against the New York Liberty, with Atlanta trailing at halftime, guard Jordin Canada revealed that Bonner delivered a fiery and unfiltered locker-room speech that completely transformed the team’s defensive intensity, sparking the massive third-quarter turnaround that won them the game.

However, none of that should come as a surprise to anyone who knows her résumé. This is Bonner’s 17th WNBA season. She is the only player in league history to surpass 100 playoff games. And this trip to the Finals with Atlanta marks her fifth career Finals appearance, with two championship rings already. So whatever the Dream needs in the biggest moments of this series, Bonner has seen it, and done it, before.

And she will be bringing every ounce of that experience into the championship round. Hopefully, for the Dream and for her, it proves to be just enough.

“You Can’t Get Too High”: Angel Reese Reveals DeWanna Bonner’s Reality Check for Dream Ahead of WNBA Finals

The last time the Atlanta Dream made it to the WNBA Finals was thirteen years ago in 2013. Being back on that stage after all that time is a natural cause for celebration, and for a player like Angel Reese, experiencing her first postseason and her first Finals, the excitement was entirely understandable.

But amid all of that energy in the locker room, it was DeWanna Bonner who made sure the team kept its feet on the ground.  According to Reese, the veteran forward reminded her teammates that reaching the Finals was only part of the journey and that they could not afford to become too comfortable with their achievement.

“One thing about her, she keeps it real, and she keeps us humble,” Reese said after defeating New York in the semifinals. “You need that in the locker room, especially for myself. This is my first time ever going to the Finals, and we were all happy. And then she was like, ‘Y’all, I’ve been to the Finals and got swept before. You can’t get too high.”

And if anyone carries the personal weight of knowing what a Finals loss feels like, it is definitely DeWanna Bonner. As she said, her Phoenix Mercury team was swept 4-0 by the Las Vegas Aces in the 2025 WNBA Finals. And interestingly, Bonner had joined that Mercury team mid-season as well. She also suffered a near-sweep with the Connecticut Sun in 2022, losing to those same Aces 3-1.

Those experiences, the losses, the sweeps, the painful knowledge of how quickly a Finals can slip away, are precisely what she is now channeling into the caution she has brought to the Atlanta Dream’s locker room. 

The Dream are talented, hungry, and riding extraordinary momentum. But Bonner knows better than most that the Finals have a way of humbling the unprepared. If that wisdom carries them through, it may end up being as valuable as anything she does on the court.