UNCASVILLE — After more than a decade competing in the WNBA and overseas, Connecticut Sun superstar Alyssa Thomas isn’t easily intimated. Even on the world’s biggest stage at the Paris Olympics, she was never phased by the intense physicality or nonstop pressure that Team USA faced on the way to an eighth consecutive gold medal.
But Thomas is a homebody at heart, and the hardest part of her first Olympic experience was spending nearly a month on the road.
“You miss your bed. You miss being able to cook,” Thomas said. “It’s tough to do that and be away for that long, but at the end of the day, we knew what we were there for and that was to win a gold medal. But yeah, that was a long time for me to be in a hotel.”
The U.S. women’s basketball team beat France in a 67-66 thriller in the final Sunday to extend its Olympic winning streak to 61 games. Thomas had two rebounds, an assist and a steal in the gold medal game and averaged 3.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists across the tournament, playing more minutes off the bench than any other first-time Olympian on the roster.
Thomas’s fiancee and Sun teammate DeWanna Bonner also made the trip to Paris, which gave Bonner a rare opportunity to watch Thomas play without being on the court with — or against — her. The couple have played together in Connecticut since Bonner was traded to the franchise in 2020. They also went head-to-head before the Olympics in the 2024 WNBA All-Star game with Bonner representing Team WNBA versus Thomas and Team USA.
“Just seeing her win, and not even win but just seeing her out there competing at the highest level was really cool,” Bonner said. “I was just there to support and be her cheerleader there … My job was to be there for her, so whenever she had off time it was up to me to try to get her mind off things a little bit … It was cool to see the community come together to support the USA, because we’re usually competing against each other, so for us to be all on the same side was pretty cool.”
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The majority of the basketball tournament was played more than 100 miles from Paris in Lille, which didn’t leave Thomas much opportunity to attend other events. However, she said her parents are longtime Olympics fans and spent their time getting the full experience of the Games. Bonner also got to spend time with the other families of USA players, making a trip to Disneyland Paris with a group that included Brittney Griner’s wife, Cherelle, Jewell Loyd’s girlfriend, Téa Adams and Jackie Young’s sister, Kiare.
“Just for them to share in this experience — it wasn’t just about me,” Thomas said. “We all grew up watching the Olympics, and I’m representing my hometown and Maryland, and of course (the Sun). So just being able to share with all those people, I know they all had a lot of fun going out to different events and actually just watching it not on TV was really fun … (For me), just being around the opening ceremony with all the athletes and things like that, and just …. being a part of so many people supporting Team USA, it was really cool to be in that experience.”
The Sun made significant roster moves while Thomas was competing in Paris, trading for standout Chicago Sky guard Marina Mabrey and signing free agent forward Caitlin Bickle to a seven-day contract, so the team spent most of the Olympic break trying to get the new pieces up to speed without its two most important players present.
Thomas and Bonner landed back in the States on Monday afternoon, and Bonner immediately returned to Sun practice Tuesday. Thomas has yet to participate in practice as she recovers from the grueling experience of the Olympics, but the Connecticut star was adamant that she plans to play as much as the staff will allow her in the team’s first game back against the Dallas Wings in Arlington, Texas, on Friday.
“Everyone keeps asking how I am, and I’m like ‘I’m jet-lagged,'” Bonner joked. “We’re just trying to get our feet back under us with the routine, trying to do laundry. We haven’t slept in our bed in a month, so it’s been pretty nice to just kind of lay around, but I’m happy to be back and kind of flip the switch from being in almost retired mode, spending every day just chilling and now coming back to work.”
Thomas will have to go back to missing her own bed once the WNBA season resumes as the Sun play back-to-back games on the road against Dallas and the Atlanta Dream on Sunday before traveling straight to Boston for a specially organized matchup against the Los Angeles Sparks at TD Garden Arena on Tuesday. Connecticut will play a single game at Mohegan Sun Arena in the entire month (Aug. 23 vs. Chicago), but coach Stephanie White said she feels good about where her squad is entering the second half of the season.
“Working Marina into the things that we do with AT and DB is going to be critical,” White said. “Our floor spacing has been better, we’re playing at a little bit faster pace, so I feel like it’s been really good … I’m certainly realistic about, it’s going to be a different kind of adjustment … First and foremost, it’s about being solid defensively, taking care of the boards because that’s always a challenge against (Dallas), and continuing our positive progress offensively.”
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