By: Jennifer Portee
7/30/2026
There’s a difference between winning and making history. Jonquel Jones knew that before she stepped on the floor at the United Center on July 25, 2026. She left doing both.
Jones led Team Spoon to a 129–122 win over Team Coop in front of a record 19,783 fans and walked away with the All-Star Game MVP after dropping 22 points, 13 rebounds, and 8 assists. That performance made her the first player in WNBA history to claim all four major MVPs: regular season (2021), Commissioner’s Cup (2023), Finals (2024), and now All-Star (2026).
Only three others Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker, and Maya Moore have the regular-season, Finals, and All-Star MVPs. Jones is the only one who can add the Commissioner’s Cup.
“This one holds a special place in my heart now,” Jones told ESPN after the game. She wasn’t speaking in clichés. You could hear it in her voice. This wasn’t just another award. It was validation.
The path wasn’t clean. Jones has been around long enough to know what moments like this cost. You don’t get here on talent alone. You get here by showing up when the schedule says rest, by taking the extra reps, by believing the work matters even when no one’s watching.
The New York Liberty’s 93–86 win over the Las Vegas Aces in the inaugural Commissioner’s Cup on June 30 gave her the fourth piece of the puzzle, but it wasn’t handed to her. She earned it the hard way through contact, through fatigue, through the kind of grind that doesn’t make highlight reels.
“This is everything that I dreamed for, that I dreamed about, that I wanted as a little kid,” she told reporters.
If you’ve ever chased something for years, you know what that line means. It’s not just about the trophy. It’s about the kid who believed it was possible and the adult who refused to let that belief die.
Jones didn’t just make history in Chicago. She reminded everyone what it takes to get there.
