Ultimately, the Connecticut Sun never won a championship.
That’s hard to take for their group of highly-competitive legends. But it’s clear that they have nothing to hang their head about. From four-straight trips to the semifinals (including two to the Finals) under Mike Thibault to six-straight trips (including two more to the Finals) under Curt Miller and Stephanie White, the Sun created a standard of winning that will go down in WNBA history, even without the chip.
Before her jersey was raised
to the Mohegan Sun Arena rafters as part of the 2026 Sunset Season, franchise GOAT Alyssa Thomas backed up this sentiment on an episode of the Sun’s podcast, “Keep Shinin’”:
A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into playing (in Connecticut). We gave it our all to try to bring a championship there, and unfortunately it didn’t happen. But it was a time there. Just all the playoff runs we had, just that atmosphere. Definitely memories that will stick forever.
The last iteration of the Sun, before they move to Houston and become the Comets next year, is currently in second-to-last place with a record of 10-33 as they prepare for their finale against the Toronto Tempo on Thursday in Uncasville (7 p.m. ET on NBA TV).
It’s been an unsuccessful season, but one marked by a successful sunset in which the franchise has honored all of its legends who had yet to be honored, while the rest of the league’s teams have given CT their flowers.
There will never be another WNBA home like Uncasville
Uncasville is actually a village within the town of Montville, CT, which has a population of 18,387. The closest city with at least 100,000 people is Hartford, 45 minutes away. It is the smallest market in the WNBA.
Players drafted by or traded to the Sun throughout their history have gone in knowing that this situation is a lot less glamorous than the rest of the league, but they have embraced it and the family atmosphere created by the Mohegan Tribe, the Native American tribe that purchased the team in 2003 and moved them from Orlando to Connecticut. The tribe also owns the Mohegan Sun Casino and Resort at the same location as Mohegan Sun Arena.
Thomas, now in her second season with the Phoenix Mercury after 11 in Connecticut, reflected on the uniqueness of the Sun’s location:
I think now being on a different team and staying on the other side, staying in Mohegan, you don’t see anything but the casino. But when you play in Connecticut and get outside the casino and see all the little things and the people there, it’s just something special. We didn’t have all the bells and whistles of other teams, but I think we created a bond with each other that (is) just unmatched.
The Sun’s stars will always mean a lot to fans and each other
Throughout this season, “Keep Shinin’” has brought on Sun president Jen Rizzotti and legendary players Jonquel Jones, DeWanna Bonner and Tina Charles, in addition to Thomas. Rizzotti and Charles both played at UConn, so the state of Connecticut has meant a lot to them, going back to their college days.
Charles, the 2010 No. 1 pick and 2012 MVP, played her first four seasons with the Sun, and then wrapped her career with them in 2025. She says it was significant to have that full circle moment:
When I came back, yes, the faces had changed, but the level was still the same, and I was very thankful for that. I was thankful to wear that Connecticut Sun jersey at that age and to be with the new generation who was leaving it better than they found it and just bringing us further. So it was nice to be able to be with the OGs and then to be with this new generation that’s just taking the world by storm.
Meanwhile, Thomas, JJ and Bonner, along with Brionna Jones, formed an elite core for the Sun in the 2020s.
There was only one year where all four played together for a full season: 2022, one of the years the Sun reached the Finals. But they were all with the franchise in 2021, a season Thomas missed most of with a torn Achilles, and 2020, a season JJ missed as a COVID-related precaution.
Thomas says this group was tight-knit:
We built a friendship first and foremost, and a sisterhood that just carried over on the court. And even to this day, we’re all in different places now, but the moment that we’re together we pick up like nothing has ever missed a beat. To this day we’re still that close. It’s hard to build a connection like that.
From ownership down to the players, the Sun have been made up of loyal people who have formed strong bonds with each other, making them all the more beloved by the fans.
Thursday night, it all comes to an end.
So often the Sun were disrespeCTed, but eventually they proved you could never count them out. That’s why Thomas’ opinion on what the legacy of Connecticut Sun basketball will be sounds perfect:
Connecticut within itself just is a basketball state. They love their basketball there. Whether it was good, bad, ugly, those fans never changed, they supported us through everything.
You knew when you were gonna come there that it was gonna be a hard game. It didn’t matter who was on that court, we were gonna go out there and be together and give everything we had.
