Jonquel Jones’ ‘uncharted territory’ this offseason paying off for Liberty and with All-Star nod

Jonquel Jones may have found a recipe for success.

Rest.

For the first time in years, she didn’t go overseas to play during the offseason. Instead, the Liberty’s standout center took a break following October ankle surgery.

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“Obviously, a different type of offseason for me with having surgery and having to bounce back from that,” she said. “It was uncharted territory, something I’ve never had to deal with before.”

It’s hard to complain about the results.

Jones was selected to her sixth All-Star Game, and second as a member of the Liberty. After an injury-marred 2025, she has found her game, averaging the third-most points of her career (15.2), along with 9.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists.

She has appeared in 21 of 22 games for the Liberty, and her minutes (29.5) have gone up, along with her production.

“It means a lot to me,” the 32-year-old Jones said, referring to the All-Star Game selection. “It feels good to be playing at an All-Star level. So thank you to everybody that voted for me, took the time to do that, but yeah, it feels good. It feels good to be able to go out there and represent the Liberty.”

The Liberty have used Jones differently under new coach Chris DeMarco, putting the ball in her hands more. Her usage in the pick-and-roll has gone up.

She is attempting a career-high 4.7 3-pointers per game, and making 41.2 percent of them, while also going to the line with more frequency (4.0 attempts, compared to 2.9 a year ago). She’s been better around the basket, shooting 62.5 percent from 5 feet and in, up from 59.5 percent a season ago.

“We’re so happy for her. She deserves it. She deserves every bit of it,” teammate Sabrina Ionescu said. “I don’t think a doubt crossed any of our minds about whether she was going to be or not. She’s so respected in this league. She showed up to play the entirety of the season, [in] a new system, trying to figure it out the way we’re playing [with] her. She’s just so dominant and we’re able to see it night in and night out, so we’re all really happy for her and really happy for [Breanna Stewart] as well. They’re gonna go and represent the Liberty really well.”

The hope is that the two teammates wind up on the same team. The honorary general managers for the showcase are Cynthia Cooper and Liberty great Theresa Weatherspoon. They pick the players for the two sides.

“Who’s drafting us?” Stewart joked.

When told Weatherspoon was involved, Stewart replied: “Oh, ‘Spoon,’ come on now, we good.”