WNBA

Alyssa Thomas has had to rely on the support of numerous teammates over the length of her career in the WNBA ... including her fiancée, DeWanna Bonner!

The professional basketball player and her partner have stuck together on and off the court, and the two have wedding bells planned for their future!

We're going to take a look at the background of Thomas' soon-to-be wife and see how they were brought together by their love for sports.

Bonner began receiving attention for her skills on the court in high school, and she continued with the sport, playing college basketball at Auburn University.

The athlete became the first player from Auburn to lead the SEC in scoring, which she accomplished in her 2008-2009 season.

Bonner also set a scoring record at her school, racking up a total of 2,162 points, according to her WNBA profile.

The WNBA star finished out her career with Auburn in 2009, graduating from the institution with a degree in psychology.

Bonner's WNBA career kicked off shortly after she finished college, when she was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury in 2009, where she played guard and forward.

She remained with the team until 2020, when she was traded and began a four-year stint with the Connecticut Sun.

The professional athlete concluded her time with the Sun in 2024, and she returned to the Mercury for the 2025 season.

In addition to her work in the WNBA, Bonner's played for various international teams over the length of her career.

The thing is, Thomas wasn't Bonner's first partner, as the athlete was briefly married to fellow WNBA player Candice Dupree.

Bonner, who played alongside Dupree on the Mercury, tied the knot in the fall of 2016, according to the WNBA's official website.

Bonner announced she was pregnant in March 2017, and she gave birth to a pair of twin girls that July.

The professional basketball players eventually split up, and Bonner moved on with another teammate.

Bonner and Thomas first met when they were both playing for the Sun in 2020, and their relationship developed when they were mandated to stay in what were described as "bubbles" for much of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bonner told CBS News she "stalked" her now-fiancée by watching her Instagram Stories prior to the start of their relationship.

The pair eventually began dating, and the guard-forward asked Thomas to marry her following the 2023 WNBA All-Star Game in Las Vegas.

A'Ja Wilson's earned herself plenty of supporters over her time in professional basketball -- including her boyfriend, NBA star Bam Adebayo!

Wilson revealed the news about her romance in February 2025 ... although she claimed she'd been close with Bam for an extended period of time, prior to the start of their relationship.

We're going to take a look at the life and times of the WNBA star's partner and see how their love story unfolded.

Adebayo's career in the NBA kicked off in 2017, and he's played as both a center and a power forward over the length of his time in the league.

The athlete, who played college ball for the University of Kentucky, was drafted by the Miami Heat after only one season of collegiate sports.

He's earned a fair amount of accolades over the course of his career, and he's played in the NBA's All-Star Game on three separate occasions.

Adebayo earned two gold medals in his appearances at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympic Games, where he played on the USA's National Team.

Wilson and Adebayo were first linked when they were spotted together just prior to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, when the WNBA star was a member of the USA Women's National Basketball Team, according to People.

The two sparked rumors about a potential relationship when they began sharing cryptic social media posts that appeared to point to their connection after the Games concluded.

Oh yeah, and we caught them leaving a restaurant in Beverly Hills on what appeared to be a date night in January 2025.

The thing is, the athletes had been friends "for years" before they ever started officially dating, and the Las Vegas Aces star confirmed their relationship just after Valentine's Day in 2025 -- which they had to spend apart, as he needed "rest."

Adebayo and Wilson have been openly supportive of each other's efforts off the court, and Adebayo was pictured wearing the Nike A'One Basketball Shoes when the Heat played the Brooklyn Nets in January 2025.

The WNBA star told People her boyfriend was incredibly supportive of her collaboration with Nike and wanted to be at the "forefront of pushing my shoes."

Wilson said she was "thankful" Adebayo wanted to be the one to promote her shoes, and described him as "a good person all around."

Lance Stephenson is demanding an end to the sex toy-throwing chaos at WNBA games -- not just out of respect for the players, but also for the young fans in the crowd.

The longtime NBA star made things crystal clear to TMZ Sports this week ... following a fourth incident where a dildo was launched onto the court during a W contest.

"I got kids," Stephenson said. "For them to see that on the floor, man, I mean like, I'd be devastated."

Everyone knows basketballs are going to get tossed around at WNBA games, but no one expected throwing dildos on the court at matches to become a trend in 2025.

As crazy as it sounds, sex toys have been thrown onto the court in the middle of multiple games, and both players and officials have had some choice words about the immature practice.

We're going to take a look at the history of the trend and see how a few people who've been caught in the act have learned some hard lessons about actions and consequences.

The first recorded instance of a dildo being thrown onto a court during a WNBA matchup was on July 29, 2025, when a fan tossed a sex toy in the fourth quarter of the Golden State Valkyries game against the Atlanta Dream in Georgia.

There were several more instances of sex toys being hurled onto basketball courts in early August 2025 ... and although the Indiana Fever's Sophie Cunningham pleaded with spectators on her X account to end the practice, it continued.

Cunningham dealt with another dildo-throwing incident on August 5, and she wrote on X her initial message "did not age well."

In the Atlanta Dream's game against the Connecticut Sun on August 7, not one, but TWO dildos were chucked onto the court in the final quarter.

While most arenas require security checks before entering the premises, sex toys carried by fans can be hard to detect.

Allied Universal Security's President of Event Services Division Ty Richmond told the Associated Press event venues faced a "conflict of expediency," as extensive searches of fans would slow down the process of getting ticket holders into their seats.

He said publicizing the prosecution of individuals who've thrown dildos on courts at games would likely "make a difference" with unruly fans and potential perpetrators.

The WNBA's policy regarding spectators throwing objects on courts at games is a minimum ban of one year from its events.

As immature as the act is, several individuals accused of throwing sex toys at WNBA games have faced legal consequences.

A spectator alleged to have launched a dildo onto the court during the Valkyries-Dream game on July 29 was arrested for disorderly conduct, public indecency/indecent exposure, and criminal trespass, according to USA Today.

Another fan was arrested after a dildo he reportedly threw at a Phoenix Mercury game on August 5 hit a spectator and his young niece.

The suspect claimed his action was just a "stupid prank that was trending on social media," according to Fox 10 in Phoenix.

We know dumb antics like these are usually done by lone knuckleheads ... but a group of cryptocurrency meme coin creators who created GDC -- Green Dildo Coin, in case you were wondering -- have claimed the dildo-throwing incidents are meant to drum up attention for their product, according to USA Today.

The group reportedly created the coin in an attempt at a humorous protest of influencers and scam artists coming up with their own forms of cryptocurrency ... and a GDC spokesperson said they thought of dildo-throwing at WNBA games "in order to get a voice in the space."

The spokesperson said the group had nothing against women's sports or female athletes ... and its collective members have apparently been advised to only throw sex toys if they're confident no one will be struck by the objects.

Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve has had enough of the sex toy throwing trend at WNBA games ... telling reporters Thursday it's contributing to the sexualization of women that "has been going on for centuries."

Reeve made her opinion loud and clear following her scheduled media availability, saying anyone who continues to hurl the objects onto courts "should be held accountable."

"We're not the butt of the joke," she said, sternly. "They are the problem. And we need to take action."

DeWanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas are a pretty great team on the court, as they've helped the Phoenix Mercury become the second-highest-ranking team in the WNBA's Western Conference for the 2025 season.

The thing is, they're even closer off the court, as the pair got engaged in September 2023!

We're going to take a look into Thomas' background and see how her love story with her teammate and future wife unfolded.

Thomas began receiving attention for her basketball skills playing for Central Dauphin High School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

The athlete graduated in 2010, and she signed on to play basketball for the University of Maryland.

Thomas became the Terrapins' all-time leader in several categories, including points, rebounds and free throws made, according to the team's official website.

The basketball star graduated from the University of Maryland in 2014, and the school retired her jersey number on her Senior Day.

Thomas' career in the WNBA began in 2014, when she was drafted by the New York Liberty ... before being traded to the Connecticut Sun.

The athlete, who plays as a power forward, remained with the team for several seasons, and she ultimately left the Sun in 2024.

Thomas has also been associated with various international teams over the length of her career, which has seen her play in countries like South Korea and the Czech Republic.

Thomas' career with the Phoenix Mercury began in February 2025, when the team announced it had acquired the athlete as part of a trade.

In case it wasn't apparent already, Bonner and Thomas met through their involvement with the WNBA, and Bonner jokingly told CBS News she'd "stalked" her now-fiancée's Instagram account in the beginning stages of their relationship.

The pair's connection deepened further when they were required to remain in bubbles with the rest of their team for part of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The happy couple went public with their relationship in 2021, and the Mercury revealed their engagement in a post on its official X account two years later.

Chiney Ogwumike has earned herself plenty of supporters over her career as a professional basketball player and sports analyst -- including her husband, Raphael Akpejiori.

The athlete's husband went through plenty of changes in his life before he met the former Los Angeles Sparks team member, whom he married in 2023.

We're going to take a look into the boxer's background and see how his love story with the basketball star played out.

Ogwumike's not the only one with experience on the court, as her husband -- who was born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria -- played on the University of Miami basketball team.

Akpejiori served as a forward for the Hurricanes, and he spent a total of four seasons on the squad.

Oh, and in addition to his work on the court, the athlete spent a season as a tight end on the school football team ... and he was later added to the Miami Dolphins practice squad in 2015, according to the Miami Herald.

Akpejiori eventually earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Miami, and he landed a position in the school's Energy Department.

The athlete's boxing career began while he was at the University of Miami, where he began training after a friend decided to start going to a boxing gym.

Akpejiori, who told the Miami Herald his interest in boxing "started for me as a workout," eventually began competing as an amateur, and he won 13 out of his first 14 bouts.

He became a professional in 2018, and he trained with former world light-heavyweight champion Glen Johnson, who said Raphael was "very raw" when they began working together.

However, the former champ said seeing Akpejiori's skills as a boxer develop over the years was "very gratifying."

Ogwumike and her husband initially matched on a dating app, according to People, and their first date took place at a Burna Boy concert.

The former Los Angeles Sparks star and the boxer got engaged on Christmas Eve in 2022.

The happy couple subsequently the knot over a four-day wedding ceremony in Houston, Texas the following November.

Caitlin Clark threw some shade on her teammates' afternoon in the sun this week ... playfully roasting Lexie Hull and Sophie Cunningham for posting a bikini thirst trap on a game day.

Cunningham dropped a vid of her and Hull sitting poolside in some tiny two-pieces just before their game in L.A. on Tuesday, and she captioned the TikTok clip by asking for a potential swimsuit brand partnership.

In the footage, the two WNBA ballers looked stoked as they showed off their chiseled bods ... but a few minutes after it got uploaded, Clark hit the comment section with a big, ol' wet blanket.

Some fans are laughin' their asses off at the recent dildo throwing trend at WNBA games, but the companies that make the sex toys don't find it funny, telling us it's "disrespectful" and needs to stop!

TMZ Sports spoke with several sex toy makers, including Twisted Fantasies owner Avi Goldstein, who blasted the behavior.

"We make adult toys for the bedroom, not for throwing around at basketball games," Goldstein told us.

Megan Rapinoe and her fiancée, Sue Bird, jumped into the viral Coldplay concert cam trend headfirst -- but the couple added a twist -- and they had the whole arena cracking up!

The legendary soccer player and Bird -- who retired from the WNBA in 2022 -- pulled off the stunt on Tuesday during the 2nd quarter of the Minnesota Lynx and Seattle Storm game at Climate Pledge Arena.

During a break in the action, Rapinoe -- seated courtside -- was shown on the big screens in the arena ... when cameras cut to Bird, who was cuddling up with the Storm's mascot, Doppler.

A WNBA game was once again put on pause due to a flying sex toy.

The latest incident went down at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Tuesday night ... as the Caitlin Clark-less Fever were taking on the Sparks.

In the second quarter of the action, just after Kelsey Plum nailed a free throw, a neon-green pleasure stick was hurled onto the court by a fan in the stands.

Brittney Griner's been through plenty of ups and downs over the course of her professional and personal lives, and her wife Cherelle's been there for many of the athlete's hills and valleys.

The WNBA star and her spouse met during their college days, although they didn't start dating until after graduation ... and their married life was disrupted when the basketball player was unexpectedly detained on the other side of the world.

We're going to take a look at the background of the professional athlete's spouse ... and see how she dealt with her wife's ordeal.

Cherelle started studying law at North Carolina Central University School of Law in Durham in 2019, according to People.

The WNBA star's spouse remained at the institution for three years before she graduated with honors in 2022.

Brittney revealed her wife had officially become a lawyer the following April by sharing a set of photos on her Instagram account, and expressed she was "abundantly proud" of Cherelle in the caption.

The professional basketball player wrote about the "hard work, determination, and passion" her spouse put into her degree.

The Griners' love story runs deep and way, way, back, as they first met while they were both attending Baylor University in the early 2010s.

The thing is, Cherelle wasn't Brittney's first spouse ... the WNBA star had been briefly married to fellow professional basketball player Glory Johnson, and although Brittney filed for an annulment after just 28 days of marriage, their divorce wasn't finalized until 2016.

Griner and Baylor University alum Cherelle eventually reconnected, and they got engaged in August 2018, tying the knot the following June.

Cherelle and Brittney later started a family with the birth of their son Bash, who arrived in July 2024.

Brittney made global headlines in March 2022 -- she had been detained in Moscow by Russian authorities the previous month after vape cartridges containing cannabis oil were found in her luggage during a trip to play ball in Russia.

The professional athlete later pleaded guilty to bringing less than a gram of cannabis oil into the country ... and although she claimed she'd done so unintentionally, she was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Cherelle expressed she was "hopeless" at times while her spouse was detained, in an interview with People -- although she later said she never had to "completely give up hope" about her wife's situation.

Caitlin Clark's earned herself plenty of supporters over the course of her career in collegiate and professional basketball -- and it looks like her boyfriend Connor McCaffery's one of her biggest fans!

The WNBA star and the assistant coach have been together ever since 2023 ... although he'd already made a name for himself in the sports world.

We're going to check out the background of the former college athlete and see what the Indiana Fever's point guard has had to say about her relationship.

Clark's not the only one with experience on the court, as her boyfriend formerly played guard for the University of Iowa team.

The former college athlete picked up several distinctions for his work on and off the court, and he was a five-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, according to Hawkeye Sports.

And it turns out basketball runs in McCaffery's family, because his father Fran worked as a coach for much of his life.

The senior McCaffery coached at the University of Iowa for 15 years ... and he switched over to working at his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, in 2025.

McCaffery graduated from the University of Iowa in 2023, and he subsequently started his professional career as a team assistant for the Indiana Pacers ... and just in case you forgot, Clark plays for the Indiana Fever.

McCaffery remained with the team for one season before he began following in his father's footsteps, taking on an assistant coaching position at Butler University in September 2024.

Butler's head coach, Thad Matta, issued a statement at the time to speak about hiring McCaffery, and expressed he was "excited for the impact" the new assistant coach would have on the school's team, according to Fox News.

Clark shared her reaction to her boyfriend's new venture on her Instagram Story, writing she was "so happy" for her partner.

Clark and McCaffery went Instagram official with their relationship in August 2023, when she posted a photo featuring the assistant coach on her account, according to Us Weekly.

The assistant coach posted on his own Instagram Story after his girlfriend became the leading scorer in the NCAA women's basketball history the following April, writing he was "so proud" of his partner's achievement.

Clark celebrated McCaffery's birthday in July 2024 with photos of him on her Instagram, and she quipped he might finally be able to "find a way to outshoot me" in her post's caption.

Breanna Stewart's had a whirlwind career in the WNBA ... and her love story with her wife Marta Xargay Casademont has been just as crazy!

While the pair took their time in the early stages of their relationship, they got engaged, got married, and started a family all within a year -- how's that for moving fast?!

We're going to take a look at how the athletes' respective careers in sports led to them wanting to spend the rest of their lives -- off court, of course -- with each other.

Marta, who's originally from Spain, is a retired former professional basketball player -- how's that for a common interest?!

The athlete's been involved with various teams in her home country, and she earned a silver medal as part of the 2016 Spanish Olympic women's basketball team.

Marta was drafted into the WNBA in 2015, and she spent a single season with the Phoenix Mercury, where she played guard.

She eventually announced her retirement from the sport in 2020 in a post on her Instagram account, writing she would "always treasure the memories that I created" in her professional career.

Marta and Breanna initially met when the latter joined the Dynamo Kursk, a Russian professional basketball team, in 2018, although they weren't close at first, according to People.

The WNBA star claimed she was "nervous to do anything" with her now-wife at first, and the Spanish athlete expressed her spouse "didn't want to mess it up" when they were initially getting to know each other.

The pair's connection grew closer when Breanna ruptured her Achilles tendon and had to recover at home in the United States.

They eventually decided to make things official, and the power forward popped the big question on a hike outside of Phoenix, Arizona, in May 2021.

Stewart and Marta tied the knot in an intimate wedding ceremony at their home in July 2021.

And they didn't exactly wait long to start a family either, because they welcomed daughter Ruby that August!

Stewart spoke to People shortly after her child's arrival, and described motherhood as "bigger than anything else that I've done."

WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu's had plenty of great moments over the course of her career in the league -- and we think her 2024 wedding counts as one of them!

The New York Liberty's point guard tied the knot with Hroniss Grasu in Laguna Beach, California ... and a few figures with ties to the NBA were at the party, too!

We're going to take a look into the background of the basketball player's husband and see what led the two all the way to the altar.

Grasu's been a football player ever since his youth, and he joined the roster of the University of Oregon -- which Ionescu also attended -- in 2010.

Grasu was part of the squad that won the Rose Bowl twice, and he went on to become a third-round pick by the Chicago Bears in the 2015 NFL Draft.

The professional football player spent a total of seven seasons in the NFL as a center, and he played for several teams, including the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens.

Grasu was most recently with the Las Vegas Raiders, where he was traded in 2021 and remained until 2023.

Ionescu and Grasu let their fans know about their relationship in 2021, when they went Instagram official as a couple.

The pair dated for two more years until the professional football player got down on one knee and proposed to the athlete, which she documented on her Instagram account.

The point guard later shared a video on her TikTok account, telling her fans she was "completely shocked and caught off guard" by her partner's proposal.

Ionescu then added Grasu had "played it off so well" prior to popping the big question, and recalled she "couldn’t stop taking pictures with my ring" in the hours following the proposal.

The athletes made things official between them at their wedding ceremony, which was attended by Dallas Wings forward Satou Sabally, Vanessa Bryant, and former NBA power forward and center Pau Gasol, according to ESPN.

Ionescu made several comments about her wedding in an interview with People, and described the event as "the highlight" of her offseason.

The athlete and her husband, both of whom are of Romanian heritage, had "25 to 30" of their extended family members flown to America for the special occasion.

WNBA star Napheesa Collier's made plenty of strides on the court as the Minnesota Lynx's power forward ... and a large part of her success story involves her husband, Alex Bazzell.

The basketball player and her spouse have been together for several years, and their personal connection's carried over to their professional lives as well.

We're going to check out how the athlete and her partner started a family together ... and how they're working on creating a lasting legacy within the sports world.

Bazzell and Collier's love story goes way, way back, because he met the athlete during her senior year of high school, according to People.

The sports industry figure and the athlete evidently stayed in touch afterward, because he acted as her trainer when she was a student athlete at the University of Connecticut.

The pair began dating when she was a junior in college, and Bazzell popped the big question in October 2019.

You know that old rhyme, first comes love, then comes marriage? That doesn't really apply in this case ... because the couple welcomed their daughter Mila in May 2022 before they tied the knot that October.

Remember how we said Bazzell trained Collier when she was in college? Turns out, she's not the only person he's trained over the years -- do the names Carmelo Anthony or Kyrie Irving ring any bells?

The sports executive was associated with Kobe Bryant, as well as his daughter Gianna -- who he trained -- and he told People the Los Angeles Lakers star was "the biggest mentor I've had."

Bazzell said the late athlete showed him how to remove the "pressure" for his daughter to follow in the footsteps of her parents and pursue an athletic career.

Oh, and he's spent a little bit of time on the court as well, as he briefly played professional basketball in Germany, according to his LinkedIn.

On top of their personal connection, Bazzell and Collier are professionally involved, as they've both worked on the development of the Unrivaled women's basketball league.

Collier co-founded the league alongside fellow WNBA star Breanna Stewart, and Unrivaled serves as a venue for professional female basketball players to play the sport in the offseason.

Bazzell, who serves as the league's president, provided a statement to CNBC Sport, saying the league would "fill a gap in the calendar" for numerous athletes, and described Unrivaled as "extending the runway of professional basketball."