Mercury Coach Had Simple Response to Fever Fans Booing DeWanna Bonner

DeWanna Bonner spent nine games with the Fever this season before ultimately returning to the Mercury.

Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner received boos from the Fever crowd in her return to Indiana. / Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images

DeWanna Bonner was met with a chorus of boos as she returned to Indiana to face the Fever for the first time since unexpectedly departing the team earlier this season.

Bonner, who ranks third on the WNBA all-time leading scorers list, signed with the Fever this past February. After nine games, she was listed on the injury report due to personal reasons, and ultimately was waived by the Fever since she felt the "fit didn't work out."

Bonner has since returned to the Mercury, where she spent the first 10 years of her career. In her first game back at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Wednesday, the lass-than-warm reception she received bothered Mercury teammate Kahleah Copper.

"I just don't understand, you know, she's a legend," Copper said to reporters. "Just all the things that she's done for the league and just the disrespect, I can't get down with it. They boo'd her, she didn't say a word to the crowd. People talked some trash to her but we had her back.

"It's just very distasteful for what their fan base has done as far as when it comes to DB because she's just the sweetest soul and the situation didn't work for her," Copper continued. "And you know that's just not what she wanted or whatever. But we don't need all of that, it's just unnecessary."

Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts did not share the same take as Copper, and simply took the boos from the Fever crowd toward Bonner as part of the game.

"Just in sports it's what you have to anticipate," Tibbetts said. "I thought [Bonner] handled it fine. That's kind of how sports work. You go into a former home of yours and typically, if you don't leave on your terms, fans aren't going to be happy. That's what they did tonight."

Phoenix Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts on how DeWanna Bonner handled the boos in her return to Indiana and Alyssa Thomas engaging with the crowd.#WNBA pic.twitter.com/Q9SyoZiMHO

— Desert Wave Media (@DesertWaveCo) July 31, 2025

The Mercury would ultimately fall 107-101 to the Fever and to 16-10 overall on the season, but narrowly maintain their lead over the Storm for second in the West.

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