Full Transcript for Jonquel Jones on Being Herself, Having Game & Liberty Secrets!

is just kind of knowing who I am, But it definitely wasn't always there. 00:05:25 Speaker 3: And I think. 00:05:28 Speaker 4: You know, coming coming from the Bahamas and coming from you know, such a really religious background, I think it took me a while to really find myself. And I think that's probably one of the most beautiful things that I found when I when I actually looked at the w NBA when I came into the league, was just saying, people live their life and like live their truth unapologetically, and it gave me the strength to really just step out and step into who I am, you know, as a lesbian woman and as a member of the LGBTQ community. And so I think my confidence comes in that just know one who I am. I think my confidence also comes from going against the norm of like what my country and I guess what behame in society told me I was supposed to be and kind of just stepping out of that and like fully just being myself and not worrying about the naysayans, not worrying about people, you know, who think differently than I think. And I think being able to live that every day has given me like that extra boost and that extra confidence. But before all in that, I think the main thing is just having parents and coaches and teachers and people in your corner that just you know, constantly uplift you to kind of to kind of guide you. Because I was one of those kids when I was growing up, like I hated losing, Like I was the I was the one you know, trying to Like I was playing soccer, I wanted to play the goalkeeper. 00:06:43 Speaker 3: We got scored on too much. I'm like, let me get in the vote. You know, was just scoring enough going on, Let me be a striker. 00:06:48 Speaker 4: You know, they have to really like instill in me, like the value of just trusting teammates, trusting trusting everybody else out there, and and really just not being like that person who felt like I had to do everything because I always love team sports, but when it came to actually being a good teammate, I wasn't there at a young age. So you know, I think I have to give a lot of props to like my coaches, my parents and stuff. Really I'm seeing that part of me and really helping me grow thatside. And I think all of the people that I've encountered along the way have helped me to. 00:07:19 Speaker 3: Become the person that I am now. 00:07:20 Speaker 4: And so I'm very happy with, you know, how how my life has been the people that I've met. 00:07:26 Speaker 2: That's a blessing man to be able to say that you know this much into the game. And I kind of want to kind of piggyback off that right there. So you've spoken to how it takes a village to get you where you're at, and it's one thing for other people to recognize the game and you, right, but when did you yourself, you know, realize like damn, like I got game or you know, I can really do something with this talent, Like when did that first hit you? 00:07:50 Speaker 4: I think it was like different like realizations during

different times. Like I definitely at an early early age meet like I was one of the best basketball players on my island. And then I had a coach tools really like he was really big on making sure that we had the exposure like that we needed to really understand that basketball and sports was bigger than just the. 00:08:10 Speaker 3: Island and the country that we lived on and lived in. 00:08:12 Speaker 4: And so he would always like take us to Florida it's like Boyington b to Miami and different stuff like that to really play against other teams. And then we started this thing where teams will come over to the Bahamas and we would like one year, they'll come to the Bahamas. 00:08:24 Speaker 3: Next year we'll go to the US. 00:08:25 Speaker 4: And I just remember like the year that we went to the US just being like, oh my god, Like they have like like every high school has like a basketball gym, where every school has their own gym, and like they don't have to work out outside. And then we played against the girls and they were just so much more advanced than us. And I remember like playing against them that first year and being like, by the time next year when we played them, I'm gonna be so much better than They're not gonna they're not gonna know who I am, you know. And so I think that was the realization. It started as like best on the island. Okay, now I have to get out of here because it's only so far that I can go here. And so at a very young age, I was talking to my parents. I'm like, I gotta lead like girls. Basketball is not where I wanted to be. I know that I'm not going to be able to play at a high level if I stay here, and I was nagging them. I think I nagged them for like three years and finally, like you know, ninth grade, they let me go. And then it was like I had to start the whole process over again because I went to Riverdale Baptists, which was like a powerhouse in girls basketball. So every year that I was there in Maryland, we were ranked in like the top ten, top twelve in the country. So I'm competing against, you know, other players that are going to go D one, and if I want a spot and I want to play, I gotta like get in the gym and really figure it out. And so like my first year and a half, I was just on JV. I would sit on the bench with the varsity team, but I really wasn't getting in. But I think the years where I played AAU and I really started to like see the other players around the country and like really understand what it was and seven walk into those gyms and be like, oh, like this is where people get recruited to go to college. Because you know, I'm coming from the Bahamas. I don't know how any of this works. I just know that I want to be there one day. And so you walk into a gym AAU and you're like, oh crap, Like it's it's all D one coaches just sitting along the baseline along the sideline so for me, it's like, oh my god, like what is this, you know, And so it went from it went from that to it went from being on

JV to playing AVE and just really gaining my confidence just playing against other people. And like Coach Rich my high school coach and my guardian when I moved from the Bombers, she would like show me like the top one hundred list and she would show me like people in my class and be like, jj, I've seen this person play, like you can play better than them. You know. 00:10:29 Speaker 3: She really started to give me that confidence too. 00:10:31 Speaker 4: And then I would have like matchups against the I'm like, oh, she's not lying, Like I can really do what I really want to do out here. And it translated into my high school season and then the letters started to come in, and I think that's probably one of the parts to like like being at high school and then let us start coming in. Oh my gosh, like you were like, oh, these people are really interested in me, Like I could really do this. I could really get a scholarship and play basketball. And so it went from that to you know, to be in rank ESPN and all that stuff. But I've never been like a really like big headed person. So I didn't assume like, oh, I'm ranked in the i don't know, top fifteen now, so that means I'm going to go to the WNBA. It was always just like what's the next step for me? And so you know, eventually I got the GW and we played really well there. And I think the moment when I think coach tbo would knows because they were in DC two at the time that we used the head coach in DC. He was coming to like almost every practice, like my junior and senior year, and I'm like, oh, like okay, I understand now, like these these coaches are really interested. Then I started seeing other WNBA coaches come to games while we were on the road as well, and I'm like okay, like yeah, And I think people started asking me early too, like maybe sophomore year, like hey, how you doing about the WNBA. But I was very like one track minded. I'm still pretty much like that too, like what's the next step versus the over arc and them, and so yeah, I think once like maybe junior year in college, when I started team more WNBA goes, I was like, okay, yeah, this is really about to happen. And so It definitely was a process for me, and I always take a step by step. 00:11:58 Speaker 1: She definitely is taking a step by step. And I think that I'll just continue to to talk about your accolades for a second. So, yeah, obviously you were drafted for a hot second to the Sparks. Then you went to the Sun yeah and spent had a great career there, but then decided to go to New York, which shout out to shout out to you because you're having your your banner put in Mohegan's son. 00:12:24 Speaker 3: And its right, that's amazing. 00:12:27 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's dope, and I'm really excited that we'll be able to be there for that. But what basically, like what was your growth and your thought process from like coming into your own in Connecticut to deciding to have a change of scenery and knowing that you want to stay in New

York. 00:12:44 Speaker 4: Yeah, I think, well, for me, it was being drafted and again, like I'm so sometimes I'm like silly with the way that I think about stuff. So I remember like people were getting good like I was. I was drafted six so like, and they traded a hell of people for me, and I think a lot of teams like that trade really worked out well for everybody. But like I'm thinking, like, this team has done all this stuff, and then I'm still in there every day as people are getting cut, like, oh, man, I hope I had a good practice today. 00:13:09 Speaker 3: And I think I went up to somebody. 00:13:10 Speaker 4: I don't know if it was Taquina Sprinkling, I don't know if it was Jasmine Thomas at that time, and I'm like, man, like, I hope I make the team. And they're like, what what are you talking about? 00:13:19 Speaker 3: Like are you are you okay? 00:13:21 Speaker 4: Like, of course you're making the team. We're not in a hotel, you in the apartments. We didn't traded people for you like talk about like what are you really talking about? So but yeah, I think it's just it started from I think that first year I didn't really touch the court much. None of us that got drafted really did. And then I went overseas to Korea and I had a really good year over there. 00:13:41 Speaker 3: We were able to win the championship and I was. 00:13:42 Speaker 4: Able to get an MVP over there and I was playing and the thing about Korea is is really only one fore and on every team. So every night I'm going up against WNBA players that are established, you know that have you know, made careers out of this, and I'm and I'm you know, I'm putting it in work, and so I'm like, Okay, this is giving me that confidence too. And so I came in next year and was able to be an All Star. I think the year after that, I kind of took a step back. We had some people that were healthy that stepped back into like bigger roles and stuff, and I still was able to do well with the minutes of the time that I had since Women of the Year. And so you can really see like the growth and the maturity in my game through like the accolades and stuff year after year. But ultimately we had made it for what three three championships in Connecticut. I think we had we had tried a lot of different things. I had made tack of prices to have people on the team because I felt like, you know, this is the piece that we need, like I want, I want to win here, you know, like we're so close. But ultimately it's just that gun human that it was time for something new. And I think I think we managed the championship that year too, And I just remember coming back to. 00:14:47 Speaker 3: The locker room. 00:14:47 Speaker 4: Peop were asking, like, you're coming back next year, and I lived. I was literally sitting in the locker room like no, like this was it. This was the last ride here. But it's time for me to explore and see what is out there and and really just started chapter in my career. 00:15:01 Speaker 3: And

you know, great memories in Connecticut. 00:15:04 Speaker 4: I'm happy that I'll be you know, my jersey and things will be retired there because it's a lot of great memories there. But you know, coming to New York is definitely the right choice. And you know, the conversations and things that we had to really just like really think it through and to come together and understand that we were going to really do something special. And we knew how special it was gonna be before we even you know late stuff and everything like that. We just do that we could come together and we could you know, make sacrifices individually for the greater good of the team that we would that we would be really really special. And I think that's what really went into my mindset coming back to is like, well, damn, like we built everything here, We've won. The city is special. There's no better market for us, and the people and everything is amazing. Like, I feel like I'm treated exceptionally well here. I have no complaints about that, and I love being out there with you guys. So it was easy, like no brain up for me to come back. 00:16:00 Speaker 1: Love that basically the same answer, same same answer, all right, time, very quick break. Next up, we're going to talk more about JJ's game and find out how she really feels about her teammates and subscribe to Game Recognized Game with Studian Miles wherever you get your podcast. 00:16:33 Speaker 2: Welcome back to Game Recognized Game with Studi Miles. We're joined by w NBA superstar Stuart's Liberty teammate. We don't call her Jjsons, We foum. Now. You know one thing I want to talk about, you know, you if anybody has experienced with this no transitioning, you know, from one team to the next, was myself. Now, I spent ten years with Indiana Pacers and I just had my first season with the Milwaukee Bucks. So like, I know what it means to leave something behind, and you know, some of your best memories are there, but you know you were actually went from what we were considering, you know, a smaller market to a huge market. You know, in New York. You know, you have celebrity status, you got a lot more eyes, got more marketing opportunities, and with that, you know, a couple of years ago, you guys went to the met gall and I personally remember when this went down. Y'all killed that shit bro. Y'all's look was O de bro like you know, you with the leather jacket. Yeah there. Yeah, and then like you know, to be in vogue and like to have y'all's moment and to put on for the w and just just athletes around the world that look up to you. I know, that was probably such an amazing moment in what you guys got to experience there. So just talk about a little bit about like, you know, just making that transition to a smaller market, you know, and coming into a big market and living that celebrity lifestyle. 00:17:51 Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, obviously Connecticut was extremely small. There was really a hand ful of things that we could do. And

I honestly feel like this is no disrespected them, but I feel like you really didn't have like that that real WNBA player experience there because of that, and so coming to New York, I really thought like I knew what to expect coming to this bigger market. I knew there was going to be more opportunity and all of that stuff, but I really didn't expect the amount of doors to be open the way that they have been open here. And Like, to me, if someone asked me or told me that I was going through the matt Yalla a few years ago, I'd be like, that's that's never gonna happen, you know. And so to be able to do it, and do it with Stewie, Sabrina and Clara as well, I think that also was amazing because you you know, you step into this room with all of these individuals, but you also have people that you're familiar with that you're comfortable with having conversations with two But man, like New York has been has been really really great to me and great to us as a team. 00:18:49 Speaker 3: And I don't know, like it's just people that I'm meeting them. 00:18:53 Speaker 4: I'm walking down the street and I'm like, it's like Tony Rock is talking to me about. 00:18:56 Speaker 3: The game, and I'm like, huh, that's going on? 00:18:58 Speaker 4: Looking at the US Open and like this guy's like JK like and we started talking and I'm like, oh, that's quite Lee, Like, I'm like what, It's just all these type of experiences that you really wouldn't you know, you wouldn't even think about having. But then you come to this big market and you come to a city that loves the game of basketball, knows the game of basketball and are real fans of it, and it's just the doors that are open to you and the people that are resenting to you is amazing. 00:19:25 Speaker 1: It's definitely facts. We're like in New York, you can do something every single night. And the amount of people that show up to our games, like those type of celebrities and stuff, it's like they're not only there to watch the game, they want to interact with us as well, and you know, meet us and do things after and never, never will we think never who is who is the person on the sidelines that star struck you the most? 00:19:49 Speaker 4: Alista Keys like Queen Latifa, that's my too, Like I remember like when I saw Alista Kis because at first, because I'm like very locked in, like it takes like you guys on the sideline to. 00:19:58 Speaker 3: Be like, oh did you see this person? Just that person? 00:20:00 Speaker 4: Like I normally never notice people, but once someone said at least the Keys and I zoned then like after the game, we always like come together and huddle at Senapore, and I was like, y'all need to hurry up because I gotta go, like hurry up right now. So like it was so serious, but meeting her was amazing. Queen Latifa too, like someone that I don't know, like we grew up well I know, for me, I grew up like Queenla Tiva was an actor. 00:20:21 Speaker 3: She wasn't really a rapper. 00:20:22 Speaker 4: So

like later on in life I realized, like, oh, her whole career started and rap first, but like the movies and all of that stuff that I grew up watching with her, like she was always the actress to me. 00:20:31 Speaker 3: So the finals, she's just amazing and everything that she does. Yeah, I love her too. 00:20:36 Speaker 2: That's what's up man? All right? Well said, I like, I like how we're going, you know, off with the question who's transition right into it. You know we're gonna talking to your teammates a little bit here, so you know, don't talk any ship who got the worst taste of music. We're gonna write too, worst taste, worst types of music. They gotta be somebody. 00:20:55 Speaker 3: Who would have sad. I'm sad. 00:20:58 Speaker 4: I feel like sad. I'm not on the oxen but but I but Issa just likes slow music all the time, and like, you know, when you in the locker room, you need something to like to like lift you up on be to kind of get you moving. 00:21:09 Speaker 3: And you always want to listen to news like every day every day. I'm just like, I want to be like, we need something else. 00:21:17 Speaker 1: You know, who talks the most trash and practice? 00:21:25 Speaker 3: You went sad? 00:21:27 Speaker 2: Probably you'll be. 00:21:27 Speaker 4: Talking be talking that talk, Like we don't really talk that talk unless like like if a practice player is starting to get under her skin, it's gonna start going at him. 00:21:36 Speaker 3: You're gonna start talking. 00:21:38 Speaker 1: Yeah, I like that when a practice player is going too hard. 00:21:41 Speaker 2: Yeah, I get it for you. That's all right. Oh okay, with that being said, who the most competitive player on the team? 00:21:52 Speaker 4: Most competitive? Most competitive? I feel like you don't get to this level what I have at the same level of competitiveness. But I would say, I would say Stewie is up there. I would say Stewie and then I say Sneaky. I'll probably say Lao Leo was up there too. Yeah, she's pretty competitive. 00:22:13 Speaker 1: Like you're competitive too, You can name yourself. 00:22:15 Speaker 3: No, I mean yeah, I'm competitive too, but yeah I am. I am. I hate losing. 00:22:19 Speaker 4: I do. 00:22:21 Speaker 1: Yeah, what's uh, spill the tea. What's something that the Liberty fans would be surprised to learn about this team? 00:22:31 Speaker 3: We have? Like we got like, can I curse? I can curse? We got like a chip ton of twins on our team. Yeah, yeah, Sabrina back Allen, who else? Somebody? 00:22:43 Speaker 1: Paul Pauline, Pauline, Like, we have. 00:22:46 Speaker 4: A lot of twins on our team. So that was actually a pretty cool fun fact that I found out like early on. 00:22:51 Speaker 3: There. 00:22:53 Speaker 2: That's quick. Good for you, for real, all right, we'll close it off here. Give me one word to describe Stewie. Don't gotta be basketball. That's just one word. 00:23:03 Speaker 3: One word to describe her. 00:23:04 Speaker 2: Yeah to her face, No, no, no, this is gonna be I. 00:23:07 Speaker 1: Think going the right words, stop it miles her face. 00:23:14 Speaker 4: One word to describe her, I say passionate. I say passionate. I feel like, like, yeah, everytime she talks about stuff, anytime we're doing something, she has like a certain level of passion to herself and so whatever we're trying to execute as a team, and even like off the court too. I feel like when she talks about stuff, she don't really talk about things she's not passionate about. 00:23:36 Speaker 1: Yeah, period, that's not wayte words over here. Time for one more break. Next time we go off the court into JJ's personal life. Oh sleep, welcome back to the game recognized game with stun Miles. It's time to get personal JJ. If you look at your wiki page under personal life, the only thing it says is in twenty nineteen, Jones got a golden doodle puppy. That's it. Is there anything else you would like to add? 00:24:23 Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, this just made me so happy. That made me so happy. I love that. I love that. Well he's over. 00:24:32 Speaker 2: Here, like look at that every time. 00:24:37 Speaker 3: But no, I mean. 00:24:41 Speaker 4: Life has been good to me. You know I'm on the market. You know I'm single, so I'm putting your applications. There's really nothing else that you know. I have a lot of nieces and nephews, so I'm not in the rest for kids or anything anytime soon. 00:24:59 Speaker 1: You could just borrow my and if you need to. 00:25:00 Speaker 4: There you go, exactly. But yeah, no, there's really nothing extra to add to that. To be honest with you, all. 00:25:08 Speaker 2: Right, fair enough. You know, I'm a you know, I'm big on legacy, you know what I mean. It's something that's something that's that's important to me. We've all worked so hard to get to this point in our life, you know. And again you have such an amazing story, you know, coming from uh, you know, the Bahamas and you know, being able to represent another country was Bosnia, believe correct, on the national stage. It's like, what do you want your legacy to be? You know, when it's all said and. 00:25:33 Speaker 4: Done, I want my legacy to be I think I want my legacy to be elevating girls basketball and especially girls sports in the Bahamas. Like I said, the Bahamas right now, when it comes to girls basketball, this is not at the level that we want it to be. And I don't want it to be that I'm the only player from the from the Bahamas to be in the w n b A. And I don't want girls in Obamas to miss out on the opportunities that sports you know, can provide. And so just giving back and trying to find ways to really continue to elevate them, expose them, and like I said, without the exposure that I had that our coaches gave me, I wouldn't be where I am today, So, you know, just starting that process. I had my first camp last year, my first basketball camps. Like there's a lot of stuff really catered to the boys and the men in the Bahamas, and so

I think the girls like that's so that's a market that's just not topped into and up. When I was growing up, we played like what six games, eight games, and I was like our basketball season, and I found out that that's still the thing right now, that they're still playing eight ten games, playing the same teams maybe three or four times. So I really just want to get back home and really invest in that and try to figure it out. And then I have some really big dreams that I want to do too in the Bahamas where I want to I want my islands specifically to be like a hub for you know, professional athletes where they can come, they can train, work out, be able to have their families there as well with them. So you get a great work cut in at you know, an am. By one pm, you could be on a boat. You know, you could be eating some Kung sould and some British from you know. And so tourism is our number one industry in the Bahamas, and so I want to talk into that and really get into sports tourism and really just have like my home be a hub for people to really come in and get great workouts in, but also be able to vacation and spend time with their family. 00:27:20 Speaker 2: Man, come tapping with me, Brothers, if for show, come support that. 00:27:25 Speaker 1: The three of us, come on, let's go work out. 00:27:27 Speaker 4: I'm getting my investors together. I'm gonna tap in. I'm being serious. Yeah. 00:27:33 Speaker 1: Well, in closing, I guess my last question for you is JJ, is there anything that you want to say to the younger generation, the fans, anybody watching, like this is your moment to just kind of like say what you want and thank them and let's see. 00:27:49 Speaker 3: Yeah. 00:27:50 Speaker 4: I mean, you know, first off, thank you to everybody that supported me. I wouldn't be here without the support. And I think back to our first year in New York, US going to the championship and we fell short and I think we had a media, got a media, we had like a fan appreciation event, and you know, I was kind of like I didn't really feel like going to I was like, min we just lost, you know, and then the amount of people that came to that and like poured so much love and so much positivity into me. Like that was a really big reason why I decided to come back after that first year too. 00:28:24 Speaker 3: It was just like, man, like. 00:28:25 Speaker 4: These people really love us, and like they see what we're doing and they understand what we're trying to build. And I don't know, even just like walking down the street, you have a tough game and people are just like it's okay, like we know, and you're gonna get the next one. And so that type of support and that type of positivity goes a long way. Because us as athletes were really really hard on ourselves and so to have people really continue to pour into us and we lose a lot too, I want to thank everybody. 00:28:46 Speaker 3: For that support. Just stick with us. 00:28:49 Speaker 4: We're growing, we're learning, you know, and it's not the limit and we know that, but it's gonna take some time. 00:28:55 Speaker 3: So there's gonna be a little bit of growing pains and all that too. 00:28:57 Speaker 4: But just want to say thank you again for all the support, all the kindness, and thank you to my teammates for always being there for me picking me up, and thank you for my family for just always being in my corner and being my foundation. 00:29:09 Speaker 2: That's so real, man, j J. It's been an absolute pleasure of having you on to day. You're an amazing representation, you know, of what greatness you know embodies and I think there's a lot of people are that. I look up to you more than you may may ever know. So I know you're a busy woman. I appreciate you taking the time and uh man, I know the Scoty's limit for y'all. Like y'all said, you know, this is part of that sea. It's just part of the season. You know what I'm saying over the road where you keep rolling, but it's gonna help you on the long end. Y'all done it before, so y'all know what it is. 00:29:36 Speaker 4: Man. 00:29:37 Speaker 2: So the fans, man, thanks for checking this out. Please break review, subscribe to game back, and nice game. We'll catch y'all next time. 00:29:43 Speaker 3: See y'all, geez