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Connecticut Sun's Brionna Jones Named 2021 Kia WNBA Most Improved Player

September 28, 2021 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Connecticut Sun News Release

NEW YORK -Connecticut Sun forward Brionna Jones has been named the 2021 Kia WNBA Most Improved Player, the WNBA announced today. A five-year WNBA veteran, Jones has won the Most Improved Player Award for the first time and joins Jonquel Jones (2017), Kelsey Bone (2015) and Wendy Palmer (2004) as players to earn the honor with the Sun.

Brionna Jones received 38 of 49 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum finished in second place with eight votes. Rounding out the list of vote-getters were Dallas Wings guard Marina Mabrey (two votes) and New York Liberty guard Betnijah Laney (one vote), the 2020 Most Improved Player as a member of the Atlanta Dream.

Selected by Connecticut in the first round of the 2017 WNBA Draft (eighth overall pick), Jones

averaged career highs of 14.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 30.6 minutes while starting all 32 games for the Sun this season. Her previous career highs in each of those categories were all set with the Sun in 2020, when she averaged 11.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 26.1 minutes in 21 games.

This season, Jones helped the Sun post the highest winning percentage in franchise history (.813) and finish the regular season with 14 consecutive victories for the fourth-longest winning streak in WNBA history. Connecticut also earned the league's best record (26-6) and the No. 1 seed in the WNBA Playoffs 2021 presented by Google. The Sun, seeking to win its first WNBA championship, hosts the sixth-seeded Chicago Sky in Game 1 of a Semifinals series tonight at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

The 6-3 Jones ranked second in the WNBA in offensive rebounding (3.2 orpg) and eighth in steals (1.38 spg) in 2021. She scored at least 20 points in six games after doing so twice over her first four WNBA seasons. Her five games with at least 10 rebounds equaled her career total prior to this season.

Jones also set single-game career highs in points, with 34 against the Indiana Fever on July 1, and in rebounds, with 15 against the Los Angeles Sparks on Aug. 28. She was honored as the Eastern Conference Player of the Week twice after not having previously won the award.

In honor of being named the WNBA Most Improved Player, Jones will receive $5,150 and a specially designed trophy from Tiffany & Co.

Below are the voting results for the 2021 WNBA Most Improved Player Award and a list of past recipients.

2021 WNBA MOST IMPROVED PLAYER VOTING RESULTS

¬â¹Player ¬â¹Team ¬â¹Votes

¬â¹Brionna Jones ¬â¹ ¬â¹Connecticut Sun ¬â¹38

¬â¹Kelsey Plum ¬â¹Las Vegas Aces ¬â¹8

¬â¹Marina Mabrey ¬â¹Dallas Wings ¬â¹2

¬â¹Betnijah Laney ¬â¹New York Liberty ¬â¹2

WNBA MOST IMPROVED PLAYER WINNERS

¬â¹Year ¬â¹Player ¬â¹Team

¬â¹2021 ¬â¹Brionna Jones ¬â¹Connecticut Sun ¬â¹

¬â¹2020 ¬â¹Betnijah Laney ¬â¹Atlanta Dream

¬â¹2019 ¬â¹Leilani Mitchell ¬â¹Phoenix Mercury

¬â¹2018 ¬â¹Natasha Howard ¬â¹Seattle Storm

¬â¹2017 ¬â¹Jonquel Jones ¬â¹Connecticut Sun

2016 ¬â¹Elizabeth Williams ¬â¹Atlanta Dream ¬â¹

¬â¹2015 ¬â¹Kelsey Bone ¬â¹Connecticut Sun

¬â¹2014 ¬â¹Skylar Diggins-Smith ¬â¹Tulsa Shock

¬â¹ ¬â¹2013 ¬â¹Shavonte Zellous ¬â¹Indiana Fever

¬â¹ ¬â¹2012 ¬â¹Kristi Toliver ¬â¹Los Angeles Sparks

¬â¹ ¬â¹2011 ¬â¹Kia Vaughn ¬â¹New York Liberty

¬â¹ ¬â¹2010 Leilani Mitchell ¬â¹New Yo ¬â¹rk Liberty

¬â¹ ¬â¹2009 ¬â¹Crystal Langhorne ¬â¹Washington Mystics

¬â¹ ¬â¹2008 Ebony Hoffman ¬â¹Indiana Fever

¬â¹ ¬â¹2007 ¬â¹Janel McCarville ¬â¹New Yo ¬â¹rk Liberty

¬â¹ ¬â¹2006 ¬â¹Erin Buescher ¬â¹Sacramento Monarchs

¬â¹ ¬â¹2005 ¬â¹Nicole Powell ¬â¹Sacramento Monarchs

¬â¹2004 ¬â¹Wendy Palmer/Kelly Miller ¬â¹Connecticut Sun/Indiana Fever

¬â¹2003 ¬â¹Michelle Snow ¬â¹Houston Comets

¬â¹2002 Coco Miller ¬â¹Washington Mystics

¬â¹2001 ¬â¹Janeth Arcain ¬â¹Houston Comets

¬â¹2000 ¬â¹Tari Phillips ¬â¹New York Liberty

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