Tag: Jordin Canada

Q&A: Atlanta Dream guard Haley Jones tried to build a WNBA Mt. Rushmore and it was so hard

“I’m stressed out over here! I’m getting a new pimple!”

Haley Jones is just a California girl with Atlanta dreams. Yet, her vision for her career extends beyond the court and into girls’ lives everywhere.

During her college career at Stanford, Jones was an AP All-American and Pac-12 Co-Player of the Year and also won a national championship. In 2023, she was drafted by the Atlanta Dream, where she thrived and walked away with WNBA All-Rookie Team honors. Now, she’s hoping to build upon her success and share her passion for basketball with other young players.

In celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day, the WNBA and VOICEINSPORT (VIS) are partnering with the WNBA Changemaker Collective to engage and unlock services to over 50,000 girls via VIS’s platform. Jones and 11 other WNBA players have signed on to become VIS mentors, something she says she wished she had as a young athlete.

“It would have meant a lot because the W was very young when I was growing up, and social media wasn’t as big back then,” she told For The Win in a recent interview. “So, I didn’t have those role models, and I feel like nowadays, kids can connect to us through Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, whatever it may be. It would have meant the world to have that one-on-one connection or feel like you really know your favorite athletes and people who look like you.”

Ahead of the 2024 WNBA season, Jones spoke with For the Win about what she would have changed from her first season in the league, why having new teammate Jordin Canada guard her was annoying, and why it stresses her out to pick just four players to be on her WNBA Mount Rushmore of greats.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

The Sky lost their opener to Sparks after absurd foul call forced OT, and fans were furious

A bad stroke of luck for the defending champs.

A year after their first WNBA title, the Sky enter the 2022 season with high hopes.

One of the league’s deeper teams, Chicago seems poised to repeat. Hey, with Candace Parker and Courtney Vandersloot, that sort of success almost seems inevitable.

And, in all likelihood, they may still get that repeat title yet. But in Game 1, at the beginning of their title defense, the Sky (-3.5 point favorites coming in) lost a 98-91 heartbreaker to the Sparks. They’ll probably move on from this soon but, thanks to a terrible call, it doesn’t sting any less.

Let’s take it to the end of the fourth quarter, with the Sky nursing an 88-85 lead. Jordin Canada took the ball the length of the court before pulling up for a three, as Dana Evans came to challenge her. When Canada rose, it seemed Evans made contact, and the officials gifted Canada three throws to force overtime. There, L.A. would eventually pull away and win.

But did Evans really foul her?

Oh no. Oh goodness, no. That is the definition of a soft call. Like, it’s nonexistent contact that should have never decided the final result. That’s absurd officiating which took away a win from the Sky.

Fans watching the game were similarly displeased about the call.