DeWanna Bonner could be the WNBA Finals' biggest X-Factor -- and she took an unlikely path to the Dream

SAN FRANCISCO -- Less than two months ago, on Aug. 22, DeWanna Bonner scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Phoenix Mercury in a 10-point loss to the Atlanta Dream. By then, the Mercury had long since become the first team since 2008 to miss the playoffs in the season following a Finals appearance. And what may be the final season of the 39-year-old Bonner's storied career was nearing a depressing end.

Until, two days later, when the Mercury released Bonner just before the deadline for player playoff eligibility from waivers. Three days after that, on Aug. 27, Bonner signed with the Dream for the remainder of the season. "It happened that Phoenix and her worked out a deal to allow her to make a run in the postseason and that turned into a mini-free agency with a bunch of teams that went after her," Dream general manager Dan Padover said earlier this month.

"We were fortunate that we had made a run at her the last few free agencies. She has a great relationship with our players, which helped." Padover took over the Dream's basketball operations in 2022, and over the last four years made five separate trades to acquire all five members of Atlanta's starting lineup: Jordin Canada, Allisha Gray, Rhyne Howard, Naz Hillmon and Angel Reese. That's three All-Stars, last season's Sixth Player of the Year, this season's Defensive Player of the Year and three All-Defensive honorees.

And yet, without Bonner falling in their lap, the Dream might not be in the Finals for the first time since 2013. "I think she's made a difference both in terms of how good a player she is. She contributes to winning every time she's out there.

And I think she has everybody's attention," Dream coach Karl Smesko said Friday after the team's last pre-Finals practice. "She has the right thing to say at the right moment. She's just been a great addition for us as a player and as a leader." Tap in to some of DeWanna Bonner's best plays with the @AtlantaDream 🤩 https://t.co/rcsBaa7iCg pic.twitter.com/fDIBrSPP3T Now in her 17th season, Bonner has won two championships and is the only player in WNBA history to surpass 100 postseason appearances.

"She's played more playoff games than I have regular-season games," Dream rookie Isobel Borlase joked. Bonner's 103 playoff games are more than double Borlase's 44 career games. When Bonner made her debut back in 2009, Borlase wasn't even 5 years old.