Liberty’s Jonquel Jones is the best of the best

The entertainment world has its EGOT, an acronym attributed to the rare few who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.

On Saturday in Chicago, New York Liberty center Jonquel Jones became the first of her kind to capture a rare quadruple for the trophy case in the best women’s basketball league in the world.

By earning WNBA All-Star Most Valuable Player honors in Team Spoon’s 129-122 triumph over Team Coop at the United Center, Jones set herself apart from any other player in the history of the league.

She is the only winner of league, Finals, Commissioner’s Cup and All-Star MVP awards.

As usual, the 6-foot-6 pivotwoman chose to talk about something other than herself after amassing 22 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists during the WNBA’s annual midseason showcase.

Instead, she dedicated the award to her late aunt, who died recently.

“My aunt meant a lot to me, she was one of the matriarchs in our family,” said an emotional Jones. 

“Lot of great family parties and get-togethers that happened at our house. My best memories were being in the kitchen and making great food for us. Show her love in that way.” 

Liberty fans have been in love with Jones since she arrived here in 2023, alongside fellow All-Star Breanna Stewart, who hauled down 13 boards for Team Coop in defeat.

The 32-year-old George Washington University alum helped spearhead New York’s charge back to the Finals for the first time since 2002 during her first campaign here while grabbing the MVP of the Commissioner’s Cup earlier that summer.

After suffering two Finals losses during her first six WNBA seasons in Connecticut, where she also won 2021 league MVP honors, Jones took a tough four-game defeat to Vegas in the 2023 Finals.

But she was the MVP of the Finals when the Liberty cracked the glass ceiling and won the first championship in franchise history in 2024, a title that was a long-time coming for a team that entered the WNBA during its inaugural 1997 season.

On Saturday, she celebrated her rare quartet of awards by apologizing for a comment she made on a livestream.

Jones believes her comments were taken out of context when she suggested that New York’s triumph over Minnesota in the 2024 Finals may have been undeserved.

“I feel like what I said was taken the wrong way, and I’ll take accountability for that as well,” Jones revealed. “It was definitely a gut punch for me. 

“Couldn’t really enjoy the weekend. I’m getting emotional. I don’t want people to ever feel like I was doing anything other than trying to put my best foot forward for our team, so I apologize.”

Jones also pointed out her appreciation for the Big Apple.

“New York means a lot to me, the organization means a lot to me, our locker room, our chemistry, what we’ve built,” she added. “I never want to misrepresent that. I never want people to feel like I wasn’t putting my best foot forward to our team and I apologize.”  

Brooklynites will certainly forgive. 

Especially after watching Jones come off the bench and light up the best players in the WNBA in only 22 minutes on the hardwood.

Playing in her sixth career All-Star Game, she sat out last year due to injury, Jones posted her fourth career All-Star double-double.

She also just missed being the second player in league history to put up a triple-double in the game, and was the first New York player to be named MVP.

After winning two straight before the All-Star break, Jones and her teammates can get back to the business of chasing Title II.

She had 14 points and 10 rebounds in last Wednesday’s 95-94 win over Chicago at Downtown’s Barclays Center, and will be ready to go Tuesday, when the Liberty (15-12) visit the Los Angeles Sparks (10-16).

New York suffered a heartbreaking 98-97 loss in its first visit to crypto.com Arena on June 21, when Nneka Ogwumike beat the buzzer and the Liberty with a 3-pointer during the 30th anniversary celebration of the league’s first-ever game between the original franchises.

The Sparks haven’t played very well since, going 2-8 in their last 10, including a season-high five-game losing streak capped by last Wednesday’s 86-82 loss to Phoenix.

Rae Burrell scored 20 points and Dearica Hamby added 18 for Los Angeles, which will host the opener of New York’s three-game West Coast swing.

The Liberty, who will also visit Vegas on Thursday and Phoenix on Saturday, had lost four straight and eight of 10 before correcting themselves at Dallas and vs. Chicago.

Now, they’ll see if Jones’ All-Star performance and their recent run of success will carry over following the break.

“You always want to go into the All-Star break feeling good. These last two games are helping us get on the right track,” Ionescu said after scoring a season-high 29 points against the Sky last Wednesday.

Tip-off in Los Angeles is slated for 10 p.m. ET.

The game will air locally on My9.

GIVE ME LIBERTY: Stewart also had six points, seven assists and a blocked shot in Saturday’s All-Star Game, which was her eighth. She and Ionescu have scored at least 20 points in the same game as Liberty teammates 20 times since 2023. … The Liberty and Sparks will finish up their three-game season series in Brooklyn on Aug. 13. … New York will host Seattle for a two-game series at Barclays from Aug. 3-5.