Liberty Star Finally Ready to Return From Injury
The New York Liberty hopes that fun in the sun ensures that it won't take long for Jonquel Jones to make her bones again.
Tuesday is a night of many, if not tiring, yet returns for the Liberty, which opens the second half of its debut championship defense against the Indiana Fever at Barclays Center (8 p.m. ET, ESPN). While the Liberty's All-Star reps may be a bit weary after the Fever-hosted festivities, tip-off can't come soon enough for Jones, whose sneakers will touch Brooklyn hardwood for the first time since June 19, when she "retweaked" an ankle injury a local loss to Phoenix.
"Just running out of the tunnel when we run out, and then being able to high-five my teammates as they do the starting lineup introductions," Jones said at the Liberty's pregame shoot around when asked about what's she looking forward to most come Tuesday night. "Just feeling that energy and everything is going to be amazing, knowing that I'm going to be on the court now."
Having targeted Tuesday as a comeback and been denied an invite to Indianapolis, Jones hit the beach for the slightly extended weekend, going home to Freeport in the Bahamas along with a select contingent of Liberty staffers led by player development boss Andrew Wade. Practice and drills ensued in a tropical setting, which was previously graced by Jones hosting a de facto second Liberty championship parade last fall.
"Even when I was healthy and on the court, he's been my coach," Jones said of Wade, working in his first New York season after coaching Laces BC in Unrivaled. "It's been it's been nice to get to know him on a deeper level and have him come to the Bahamas and really just kind of share my home with him and the other staff that came. I think our relationship is definitely growing and it's moving in the right direction."
Jones was torn over whether she'd stay in her personal (Freeport) or professional (New York) home during the break but was convinced she made the right decision upon her return to Brooklyn.
It's been a busy 24 hours on the Liberty transaction log, which added Stephanie Talbot and is also reportedly set to welcome in Emma Meesseman. The biggest addition by far, however, is Jones, whose follow-up to standing as the MVP of the Liberty's first Finals flight has been frequently interrupted by injuries.
Jones has played only four games since the calendar flipped to June, originally injury her right ankle in a win over Washington. She briefly returned for the Liberty's comeback win over Atlanta on June 17 but hasn't been seen since a physical encounter with ex-New Yorker Sami Whitcomb led to her early exit in the Phoenix's aforementioned visit.
This time around, Jones says that she "definitely" feels better compared to her last attempted comeback.
"The last time I was still limping a little bit," Jones recalled. "I could kind of feel my ankle when I was running up and down the court, especially in that fourth quarter [of that Atlanta game]. So now I feel lighter. I feel ready. I don't have any second thoughts about how my ankle is feeling, and so I'm just ready to play."
New York weathered the tropical seafoam storm despite some early struggles, going 5-4 while Jones was extensively sidelined. That includes three victories in a row to create the WNBA's longest winning streak going into the break, the latest being a 98-77 over the same Fever last Wednesday.
General manager Jonathan Kolb praised his acquisition for the way they conducted themselves in Jones' absence, noting that her medically-induced departure allowed depth stars like Kennedy Burke, Rebekah Gardner, Isabelle Harrison and Marine Johannes to flourish and build trust for opportunities closer to the championship.
"Getting JJ back is going be huge," Breanna Stewart added. "She's obviously lone of our anchors, and just being able to get to the best basketball that we want to be playing and really building that kind of strength and chemistry going along for the second half of this season is going to be huge."
"We're just excited to have her back. She's excited to be back," added Sabrina Ionescu, who said that Jones was "obviously" an All-Star. "We know how much she's going to help us, and we're just going to help her as she kind of finds her groove back. She's missed a lot of games and a lot of the season, and so we're not expecting her to come out and kind of be in peak form, but I think just being able to slowly ramp her back up to feeling like herself and turn which will help us."
Time will tell if Jones is on any sort of minutes restriction upon her return to Brooklyn. Jones appeared to believe she would be when asked in Tuesday's lead-up but advised reporters to check with head coach Sandy Brondello.
Geoff Magliocchetti is a veteran sportswriter who contributes to a variety of sites on the "On SI" network. In addition to the Yankees/Mets, Geoff also covers the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, and New York Giants and has previously written about the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Staten Island Yankees, and NASCAR.