CHICAGO — An emotional Jonquel Jones shared a heartfelt apology Saturday night for a viral comment she made on the “StudBudz” livestream that she said was “taken the wrong way.”
Jones could be heard on Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman’s stream Thursday night saying that she felt the Connecticut Sun deserved to win the 2019 WNBA Finals more than the Washington Mystics much like the Minnesota Lynx deserved to win more than the Liberty in 2024.
Her comment went almost instantly viral, with some Liberty fans taking issue with it.
Jones called the ordeal “a gut punch for me” and said she “couldn’t really enjoy the weekend” because it weighed heavily on her.
She explained that she was enjoying a night out and had her guard down. She was talking with a friend.
“What I said it didn’t really come out in the way that I meant it,” Jones said moments after winning this year’s All-Star Game MVP. “What I was just saying is that you can have a team that has a lot of chemistry, that is great on paper, that has had a great season and it’s still not enough to get it done and that’s what I was trying to explain to her with that whole clip.
“Obviously we put our hearts out there on the court in 2024, and I wouldn’t want it to finish any other way. I know what it means to our city. I know what it meant to me and every single player that stepped on the court, put their heart into that and so obviously I feel like what I said was taken the wrong way and I’ll take accountability for that as well and understand that I do have a responsibility when I speak to make sure that I’m representing not just myself but our organization in the right way.”
At one point during her answer, Jones, the 2024 Finals MVP, was overcome with emotion and needed to take a moment’s pause to gather herself.
“New York means a lot to me,” she continued through tears. “The organization means a lot to me. Our locker room, our chemistry, what we built, I never wanted to misrepresent that and I just never wanted people to ever feel like I was doing anything other than trying to put my best foot forward for our team, so I apologize.”
The Liberty beat the Lynx in five games to capture the franchise’s first championship. The series ended in controversy when fiery Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said the series “was stolen from us” because of poor officiating.
But Jones set the record straight Saturday that she didn’t mean any harm by the comment she made to the StudBudz.
