By RENALDO DORSETT
Tribune Sports Reporter
rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
JONQUEL Jones continues to garner recognition from WNBA fans, international media on pace for an MVP season, and a fellow Bahamian basketball icon was on hand to take in her latest contest and the bond between the two.
Buddy Hield was courtside as Jones and the Sun suffered a 74-73 loss to the Dallas Wings on Wednesday night at College Park Arena in Dallas, Texas.
Jones finished with 13 points and six rebounds in the loss.
It was the first time the Sun lost back-to-back games for the season and they fell to 9-3 on the year.
Dressed in a replica Jones jersey, Hield said how both players established a connection at a young age in Grand Bahama and through the HOYTES programme.
"(Our relationship) goes all the way back to elementary school. Jonquel has always been a terrific athlete. She really could play any sport she wanted to, that's how gifted she was. So it's great to see her in the WNBA, at the highest level, competing with the best, moving around the world, and she's a blessing for the Bahamas (and) for the league," Hield said.
"She's been doing a lot of great things this year, so I hope she gets the MVP (award) and I'm rooting for her -- the whole Bahamas is rooting for her. She's been a really, really great inspiration for everybody back home."
Both players were selected with the sixth pick in their respective drafts.
Hield was the No.6 pick of the 2016 Draft by the New Orleans Pelicans and played 57 games with the team before he was traded to the Sacramento Kings in February 2017.
Jones was selected at No.6 overall by the Los Angeles Sparks, but then immediately traded her draft rights to the Sun in exchange for Chelsea Gray and the Sun's first round pick in 2017.
Both players went on to be emerging leaders for their clubs within the past three seasons.
Last season, Jones played 20.5 minutes per game as a reserve and started only 16 of the 34 regular-season games. Jones was still named the 2018 WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year, earning the honour as the league's top reserve for the first time in her three-year career.
She averaged 11.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, a career-high 1.7 assists and 1.24 blocked shots per game last season. She tied for ninth in the WNBA in blocks and ranked fifth in field goal percentage (55.0) and second in three-point field goal percentage (46.7). With 50 three-pointers made, she surpassed her total from the previous two seasons combined (36).
In 2017, she was named to the All-WNBA Second Team after she averaged a double double, set the league's single season rebounds total, was named an All-Star and was awarded as the WNBA's Most Improved Player.
Jones finished the year averaging 15.5 points and 11.9 rebounds per game - a dramatic increase from her rookie season when she averaged 6.8 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
This season, Jones has emerged as an MVP candidate and has already won Eastern Conference Player of the Week on three occasions. Jones has posted averages of 16.7 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game on 49 per cent shooting from the field and a career high 84 per cent from the free throw line.
She currently leads the WNBA in rebounds and blocked shots while ranks fifth in scoring. Jones is one of the front runners for All-Star and MVP consideration.
Hield has now made more three-point field goals than any other player in NBA history through their first three seasons in the league with 602. His season total of 278 three-pointers ranks No.7 all-time for a single season and moved him ahead of Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors with 276 in 2016.
In his third season, Hield averaged 20.7 points on 46 per cent from the floor, 43 per cent shooting from three-point range and 88 per cent shooting from the free throw line. He also averaged 5.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists in just over 32 minutes per game.
Hield also set the Kings' single-season three-point field goals record this season when he surpassed Peja Stojakovic's mark of 240. During his season of milestones, Hield also made his debut in the MTN Dew Three Point Shootout at NBA All-Star Weekend.
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