Marina Mabrey brings championship ambitions to like-minded Connecticut Sun

BOSTON — Marina Mabrey always had a little bit of home with her in Chicago. Her sisters, Dara and Michaela were just an hour and a half away in South Bend, Indiana, where the three all played college basketball for Notre Dame. So when Mabrey got traded to the Connecticut Sun, missing her sisters was at the forefront of her mind.

But so was something else, something that’s also close to Mabrey’s heart: The opportunity to win a WNBA championship. That’s ultimately why Mabrey asked for the trade, and requested to play for Connecticut, specifically.

Mabrey has played for three other teams during her six-year WNBA career — the Sparks, Wings and Sky — but none have felt quite like the Sun.

“Being a part of a team like this that is so disciplined with a championship mindset, I haven’t been a part of that yet,” Mabrey said.

The Sun brought in a sharpshooter to help achieve that lofty goal.

“She’s somebody that wants to win,” Alyssa Thomas said. “She gives us a completely different look. We need 3-point shooting and that’s what she does. You can’t win a championship being one of the last in the league in that area. I’m excited for what she brings.”

Mabrey found out she’d been traded following Chicago’s last game before the Olympic break. She was cooling down after a win over Las Vegas, when her phone started to ring. And ring and ring. Finally, Mabrey answered, and was given the news. She called her agent to say thank you, and then made her way out of the Sky locker room one final time.

Miscast in the Midwest, great fit in Connecticut

Chicago wasn’t the right fit for Mabrey, despite the proximity to Dara and Michaela. Once head coach James Wade left, so did the system he built, and the plan he’d pitched to Mabrey. She waited to see how things would take shape under Teresa Weatherspoon, before deciding that Connecticut was a better situation.

It’s a mutually beneficial situation, too. The Sun need a shooter — they’re ninth in the league in 3-point shooting percentage, and 10th in makes — and Mabrey provides that. She’s eighth in the WNBA in made 3s, averaging 2.3 per game. In return she’s given the opportunity to play on a contending team, and with veterans that inspired her own rise in the college and WNBA ranks.

“AT [Alyssa Thomas] and DB [DeWanna Bonner] were two of my favorite players when I was younger,” Mabrey said. “I watched AT like every day when she was at Maryland. So when you get to play with people that you look up to, it’s fun. They’re easy to play with and you want to be just like them.”

Just don’t tell them that.

“Shhh,” she joked. “I don’t want them to get big heads.”

Because Mabrey was brought in as the Olympic break began, she had a month to practice and build familiarity with the team. Getting comfortable is still a work in progress, she said, but Mabrey looked acclimated in her first appearance, a 109-91 win over Dallas. She finished with 17 points, four assists, four rebounds and two steals, while going 3-of-5 from beyond the arc.

Her next game was shakier, as the Sun lost 82-70 to Atlanta, and Mabrey went 2-10 from beyond the arc.

“It’s definitely still a process like spacing wise, and how I like to play and figuring out how I fit in with the team and what’s best for us to win,” Mabrey said. “But as DB says, we all know how to play basketball, so we just need to go out there and play, and the other stuff will come later. So that is a settling feeling for someone who is new.”

Mabrey and the Sun bounced back with a 69-61 win over Los Angeles in a sold out TD Garden on Tuesday. It was the first WNBA game held at the iconic home of the Boston Celtics, a sign of growth within the league, and the Sun franchise.

The crowd sported green for the Celtics, and orange for the Sun. Some fans wore a little of both.

The Sun want to be looked at as New England’s team, so building fans outside of Connecticut is important. So was playing in TD Garden, not just because it was historic, but because of who else plays there.

Mabrey is a Celtics fan, and Bonner called them Connecticut’s “brother team.” They also happen to be the reigning NBA title winners, and the Sun are hoping to get some championship energy by playing in their arena.

“There is a championship feeling in here,” Mabrey said Monday, as she glanced around the arena and into the rafters where the Celtics have commemorated their 18 NBA titles.

The win came over former Sun head coach Curt Miller, who left two seasons ago for the L.A. job. He was a key piece in the franchise getting to this point. During Miller’s seven-year tenure, the Sun played in the WNBA Finals twice, losing to Washington in 2019 and Vegas in 2022. The Sun have never won a title, but Miller thinks it’s coming, and soon.

“I think it’s their year,” Miller said.

And Mabrey could be the missing piece that finally gets Connecticut its long awaited trophy.