PHOENIX — It’s natural for anyone to set expectations when taking a new job.
But newly acquired Sun guard Marina Mabrey has learned her lesson. When she arrives in Connecticut to play for the team she asked to be traded to, Mabrey will go in with an open mind.
“I came to play for James Wade, the system he had built and the vision he saw for me,” Mabrey told the Sun-Times on Friday. “I don’t like to jump ship, so he left and then I thought, ‘OK, let’s see what happens.’ ”
What happened was the Sky finished the 2023 season with interim coach Emre Vatansever. By July of last season, the front office already had begun discussions with its next coach, Teresa Weatherspoon.
The Sky earned their fifth consecutive playoff berth, with the help of Mabrey, who was the team’s second-leading scorer. Then things took another turn.
In Weatherspoon’s system, without another reliable outside scoring threat, Mabrey’s role changed. She was tapped to be more of a facilitator. Her three-point efficiency took a considerable hit as a result. In the Sky’s last 10 games, Mabrey averaged just 12.4 points, shooting 32.4% from behind the arc. Last year, she finished the season shooting nearly 40% from deep.
Ultimately, Mabrey felt playing for the Sun is “a better situation.”
“I like to keep our stuff in-house,” Mabrey said when asked why she requested a trade. “What happens there stays there, but I saw it as an opportunity for me to get a chance to play with veterans, people who have won a championship.”
As for whether there were other potential landing spots for Mabrey, she said she wanted to go Connecticut.
Mabrey is in Phoenix to participate in the WNBA’s three-point contest and skills challenge. WNBPA president and nine-time All-Star Nneka Ogwumike announced Thursday that Aflac is supplementing the league’s $2,500 payout for each event with a $55,000 bonus for both winners.
The Sun have three players competing in the All-Star Game, which pits a team of WNBA All-Stars against the U.S. Olympic team Saturday. Forward DeWanna Bonner and center Brionna Jones will play for the WNBA and Olympian Alyssa Thomas for the U.S.
By Friday, Mabrey had caught up with her new teammates. She said she already feels their trust in her scoring ability.
“She’s a vet and a dynamic scorer,” Bonner said. “Someone that you know holds her own. We don’t have to stop and teach anything. We could just put her out there and she’s going to flow really well with us.”
Bonner added that the trade was a bit of a shock, but the Sun are “super excited” about Mabrey joining after the break.
“I don’t know how many times I can say it, we just want to get on the court [together],” Bonner said.
Despite being 10th in the league in three-point percentage, the Sun (18-6) are second in the league standings at the break. Mabrey could be the difference in the Sun’s pursuit of their first title.
Regardless of the outcome, a season and a half with the Sky has given Mabrey a new approach.
“After a while, it’s hard you came for one thing, and it didn’t really end up panning out to be the role, position, everything that you were originally planning on being in with [Wade],” Mabrey said. “That’s OK. Things change, and maybe it doesn’t work out like you saw it working out.
“But [in Chicago], I learned not to create expectations anymore because it just leads to a letdown. It’s hard. I won’t be going into Connecticut with any expectations.”
