The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - GOOD FOLLOW - New York Liberty’s Jonquel Jones Talks Season Standings, The Met Gala, Life After Basketball & More

Episode Date: August 28, 2025

Ros sits down with 5x WNBA All-Star, 2024 Champion, Finals MVP, and 2021 MVP, New York Liberty center Jonquel Jones, to discuss the Liberty’s season up to this point, where they are sitting in the standings, and adjusting to the changing lineups. Then, Jonquel breaks down her Met Gala look, what it means to her to have her nephew in New York for the summer, and the importance of providing others with opportunities. Finally, they discuss what life could look like after basketball for Jonquel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Hey, what's up Goodfala Show? It's your girl, Rosgold on Wooday. And today's episode is coming to you from Brooklyn and New York City. We are at Barclays Center. And joining us as one of the best basketball players in the world, also a very dope human being and person. Thank you.

A WNBA champion with the New York Liberty was last year's finals MVP, has been a WNBA MVP, a five-time All-Star, and repin for the Bahamas. John Quill Jones. What's up, JJ? What's going on? How you doing? I'm so good. You know I always like to have some special time with you and kick it. Yeah, I appreciate that. Thank you for joining the show.

Thanks for having me. Literally just got here coming from practice. Can you imagine that? I mean, it's such a rare occasion for the liberty these days. Yeah, I know. Actually, it's been crazy. The season has been, it's just been going, going, going, so it's nice to actually be able to get on the court and work on some things and kind of, and kind of iron out some of those kinks. How bad does the team need practice?

We need it badly right now. We have people that are coming back from injuries. You have Emma who just joined our team and was kind of thrown into the fire. So it's just, like I said, a lot of different kinks and things that we have to iron out, but also opportunity for us to kind of sharpen the tools that we have and get everybody familiar with what's going on. Yeah, you know, when you just think about what it takes to run back a championship is really hard. And especially the season, something's out of your control.

out of your control, like when you think about all the injuries that have happened to the team, also just to you, how would you reflect on the way this season has kind of rolled itself out so far for you? Yeah, I mean, always, when you're coming into the season, you kind of think about it as there's going to be like, you know, ups and downs, ebs and flows, highs and lows, and you kind of prepare for that and as a vet is something that you really expect. But coming into the season, if anybody had told me that it was going to be the way it has been for us in terms of injuries, I would have said that they were lying.

Like I just wouldn't have believed it because it's just been a lot. But ultimately, I think we've done a good job of staying together as a team, you know, really just figuring it out and understanding that sometimes it's just going to be a little bit tough with the situation that we're in. Yeah. And the situation that you're in, you know, defending champs, full stop, respect. But at the moment, I feel like it happened so quickly, you sit at the five seed in the standing. Yeah.

Like, how do you feel about that? I mean, obviously, we understand that we're not a five seed in this league, obviously. But at this point, it's just about winning basketball games. It's about stacking the wins on doing the things that we can focus on the things that we can control so that we can win basketball games. But it's been tough, man, like I said. So now there's so much parity in the league. There's so much, you know, good competition and any given night, anybody can beat anybody. And so we've seen that first time, and now we understand that it's going to take a high level of things.

consistency effort, all of the little things, but also making sure that we have enough bodies to be able to keep up that level of play, too. And I think that's been the biggest thing for us. And what about the rebounding side of the ball? Oh, it's going to be huge. It's a big emphasis for us. I think a lot of times us playing the five-out offense, like it's good for our spacing, but it kind of causes us not to have as many people, you know, hitting the boards. And so there's an emphasis now, you know, for me and a lot of the other players to really just focus on that aspect of the game. And I think we did a good job of doing it to last. game against Connecticut, and we just got to carry on. Yeah. You know, the way I look at the team as I'm the one calling your games and watching you each night, I kind of feel like you have the most upside right now. That's the way I'm looking at. I agree, actually.

I completely agree with that. You know what I mean? Completely agree with that. Because you don't even, we don't, you may not even, y'all probably don't even really know what is the full potential of dangerousness that you have because you have not put all the talent together enough. I agree. Yeah.

Like, so Emma Misman joined the team. Stui's back. So what is the potential of that group, especially y'all three on the court, even if you're sharing the court together at times? I mean, obviously the potential is to be able to win, and that's world-class athletes. And luckily, we had the opportunity to be able to play together overseas. In Russia. In Russia, yeah. So we're used to playing with each other.

We understand tendencies. We understand the strains of each other. And so now we just have to put it together in a new system under a new. coach and bring emma into the fold but um honestly if i'm any team of the playoffs i don't want to see us in the first round um i don't want to really see us in the playoffs because i feel like we just like you said haven't really realized our potential yet um and haven't had the opportunity to put our full roster out there on the court yeah and to the point i think the familiarity will go a long way i think everybody's very high IQ on this team yes um very versatile and for me you're very unselfish

and that's going to go a long way and bringing this together. I got one more characteristic for you that I didn't say. Okay. You also are a sniper. Okay? So at 6'5.6 center,

you are leading the league. You've been leading the league in three-point shooting percentage. I mean, what is the pride you take in being able to do that at your size and position? Yeah, I mean, I've always felt like I kind of had like a later growth spurt

in life and all that stuff. And so because of that, I was a guard for a long time. And so a lot of guard skills kind of transferred over to me and I just got the height and was able to add other aspects to my game. But I think a lot of pride in being able to shoot and made the open shots and worked a lot on my three-point shot, obviously just getting more shots of getting more wrapped up

to be consistent and it's showing. And so, again, that's the upside of the five-out offense is that you're going to be able to shoot a lot of threes. And my teammates, my coaches trust me to make that shot. So I'm excited that I get to do it here. Are you finding that most defenders won't come out there with you, that you have that space? Or are they coming out tight for you? No, I think it's a little bit of bows, right?

So sometimes you may have Sabrina and Stewie on one side of the court, and they're playing in the two-man action. And so now they're thinking, like, okay, we have to help because it's Sabrina and Stuie on that side. So then I get the open shot. Then I start hitting. And now they're like, oh, we can't leave JJ. So it allows Stewie and Sabrina to have more space to be able to get downhill, play in their. spaces and so it's kind of like a give and take and I think that's the good thing about a versatile team is that no team can take away everything there's going to be there's something that they're

going to have to give up and it's just our job out there to kind of exploit that understand the mismatch is what we want to go to and then play from there it sounds like a fun simple game like it can be right if it all can be so simple yeah so you guys won the championship last season winning the championship it comes with a lot of perks. So y'all went as the championship team to the Met Gala. So this is the fashion stage of all stages. It was you, Stewie, Sabrina, Clara Wu-Sai. I want all the TV. Like, I want to know about the experience. And also specifically about your hair and your fit, how it came together. You stole the show in some way. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I agree with that statement. You felt like you

were the best dress. I honestly do feel like I was the best dress. Tell us why. Yeah, I mean, I just felt like, I felt like my hair was a statement piece. Like, I already command like a lot of attention because of my height when I walk into a room. So then to have my height and then have even more height with my hair, just people were just, when I walked in the room, just all eyes are on me. I think Sergio Hudson and Courtney Mays did a really good job of tailoring my outfits and making sure that I felt comfortable. Like, I think that was the most important thing for me is that I wanted the outfit to represent me and like how I carry myself through life, but I also wanted to be able to move through the Matt Giala with a level of confidence and comfortability.

And I think my outfit did a really good job of doing that because I didn't feel uncomfortable. I didn't feel like sometimes, you know, when you're wearing things and like things are shifting or moving, you can kind of worry about that. And it kind of takes away from your confidence a little bit. And I think they did a really good job of just making sure everything was tailored well, fit well, the different materials, the accessories from like what was on my. suit kind of you know flowed up into my hair so it was just a lot of different things and and then my hair of course they did a really great job of just

making sure that it was centered structured so even though it was like really high up I never felt like it was gonna like tip over or anything like that it didn't get a headache it was just all really well done so how tall were you with the the hairstyle no idea maybe maybe seven feet I don't know I feel like it gave me at least six at least six eight what was there a rod inside of it to keep it up? Yeah, so when the hairstyle is when she did my hair, what she did is that, so she put my hair in the ponytail first,

and then she took like some of my locks from like the inside of the ponytail, and she made like a structure with it. So she like kind of held it up in like hair ties, and then she wrapped it with like a wire to keep it, to give it that structure on the inside. And then she used more of my hair on the outside to kind of cover it up and then shape everything

the way she wanted to. And then we just, from there, we just looked at different accessories and say, oh, let's just pull it. around with it. Let's put this hair, put that there, and see what we like and what we're feeling. It's so cool. And it wasn't heavy. Not at all. It was perfectly centered. Like, it didn't feel heavy at all. Oh, wow. I mean... The hardest part was, like, trying to walk through doors and stuff, just, like, tipping my head like this, trying to make sure I don't knock my ponytail

over. Did you coordinate with your teammates and Clara, or you guys did your own thing and just pulled up? So when we, when we had, like, discussions with Courtney and Sergio... Which is so cool, by the way. That was amazing. That was amazing. Pain time heavy hitters. We all kind of individually talked about like what we liked, what we didn't like. They kind of gave us some options. And then I think it was their job to then tie everybody's look into each other a little bit. But obviously, the Mad Gala has a theme anyway.

And so there's going to be a little bit of similarities regardless because dandyism was the theme. I think you smashed Dandyism, by the way. I think so, too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then what's the overall experience of like being there with all of these other celebrities, some celebrities outside of the sports world, just entertainment celebrities.

Yeah. I even heard you met Anne Hathaway. Yes. Yes. She actually came up to me. It was crazy. So I was just kind of like mingling. And I made like a conscious effort.

I'm like, when I get into the Meg Gala, I'm not going to like hold a wall. I'm not about to just sit in one spot and like not mingle, not talk to people. So at the cocktail reception, I was just walking around the room talking to everybody. Just like, just being myself, you know? And I don't know what had happened, but I was kind of walking back. towards like where Stewie and Sabrina were and Anne Hathaway walks in at the same time at the cocktail reception and as she walks in she sees me she's like oh my god like and I'm just like and I don't I don't think you know me but I'm gonna accept I'm gonna accept

the love like you know what I'm like oh my goodness how are you doing she's like I'm like okay like what's up girl I'm like hi I'm jay from the new york she's like I know you and was like okay my bad so we started talking and I'm just like you have to come to a game like we want to see you celebrity role and all this stuff just giving my little you know my little pitch to kind of get her to come to one of our games and she said that she would be interested in and try to you know contact her team but it was just an amazing moment for me because i just i grew up watching her princess diaries all the movies like you know so um to kind of get that embrace tomorrow was amazing that is so cool she was like i'm like okay we besties now right

okay was everybody doing these guys i've never been in the french kids no i was just her but But everybody else was just super cool. Like, I don't think I met anybody that night that made me feel like I didn't belong to be there or that they were too, like, bigger than me or anything like that. Like, it was a really good night, and everybody was super cool. And I met so many people, Simone Biles, Serena, Coco Jones. I was just talking to everybody, Anna Wentor. I had a good conversation with her.

Really? I just went up to her. I'm like, so what does it take to, like, put on the Met Gala? Like, how long? I had all the questions. I was really interested. And she was like, you know, she was just telling me how the black dandyism and the theme for that year that they had been planning it since before COVID. And so that's how long it takes to kind of get the Meg gal and everything together.

So I thought it was super interesting. And how special that you guys got to represent and really steal the show in the way that you guys did? Yeah, I think it was amazing. I think it just shows that the league is growing and that, you know, we're entering the spaces that we should have been in all along. And so I know we won't be the last NBA players to be there. I'm excited to see how that goes in the future. For sure. I got another role that you star in.

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What is going on? Listen, the streets are talking. Right. But this is a beautiful representation of you. So I heard you're an amazing auntie. And you have a 16-year-old nephew, David, who, just to fill you y'all in, has been here mostly all summer, staying with Jonquell in New York. And even traveling with the team, I heard having work experiences, shadowing executive staff. How did this come about where you wanted to present?

such a meaningful opportunity to your nephew and like, why was it important to do that? Well, it was important for me because I just understand that like in the Bahamas sometimes the opportunities really aren't there. And the representation really matters in terms of like kids getting to see that there's so many different avenues that you can take, you know, to kind of find a career that you want to kind of professionalize yourself in or whatever. And so for him, I think he loves basketball. He loves sports. He's growing up watching me play. It's a big part of his lifestyle at home.

Like he plays basketball and all of it. And I think he wanted to kind of understand what were the different ways that you could kind of be around basketball, be in basketball without necessarily being an athlete. I thought it was really important for him to kind of come here and really be able to have the opportunity. And so he came and when he first came, he had a three-week internship. So the first week he shadowed the business front office. second week it was the basketball front office and then he did equipment management and everybody

that's like in our locker room for the third week and so he was able to kind of really get hands-on experience with everything and really just understand how things we're working I think the first day he went to work with the business front office he came back he's like yeah we had we had a meeting about Ellie and we were talking about marketing and all this stuff and I'm just like that's so cool like how many 16-year-olds considered they sat in on a meeting like that but I mean Other than him being here and me being able to provide the opportunity for him, I think, is also hats off to like the New York Liberty and then being willing to open up that door for him and for my family.

And I think it shows that what we're doing here is really just building something that's bigger than basketball. Like it's about making sure that this actually feels like a family environment because a lot of teams and a lot of organizations like to use that term of, oh, this is a family. But it's not until you start doing things like that that you really get to see how much an organization cares about you. and the well-being of the people that are around you. Yeah, just another example of, like, honestly, the Liberty being really A-1, you know?

And what an incredible experience for a 16-year-old? I know. He may have a future in sports business. No, he is. He definitely, after he left, like, two days ago, when he went to Atlanta, so he stayed with my sister in Atlanta, and then he flew back home to the Bahamas, and he was like, me and him were talking,

and I was just kind of letting them know, like, you have all these resources now. Like, you know, I went to GW, Serena went to Oregon, And Canada, you went to UCLA, like there's people that, you know, we can kind of talk to to kind of help you, you know, further your education in college and all that stuff, too. So don't feel like, you know, you don't have these resources, use your resources and understand how important it is. And he was just talking about how he wants to go into sports management and study sports

management and college and all that stuff. So it's definitely opened his eyes to all the opportunities. And I'm excited to see what he does in the future. You are an incredible auntie. Thank you. Auntie JJ is the best. Thank you. And also, you really have a great vision.

It could lead to something like a reoccurring summer internship program that you might even sponsor or like, you know, it started with my nephew, but I do this summerly and we take on one or two. I'm just, you know, I'm just thinking big, but it's, you can make an impact in that way. I agree. I agree. I didn't think about it like that at first, but the more I've been talking about it, I'm like, this is such a great opportunity and experience for kids, his age, and anybody to be able to. Can I be your next turn? That sounds amazing. For real. The next one, they could actually spend time with me if you want. Yeah. Okay. Okay. That sounds cool. Yeah, little media stuff.

They could see that side too. Not us putting things together. Yeah, yeah. But I'm actually really not surprised that you do think that big. Because actually, and first of all, I just want to excuse myself, I have misnamed you the entire interview. Sorry. Doctor, JJ. You made me nervous.

I'm like, did I not hear you misnamed me? hear you misnamed me. We're talking to Dr. J.J., Dr. John Quill Jones. You know, you received right before the season an honorary doctorate degree of humanities from your alma mater at George Washington University. And you were also the speaker, the commencement speaker at the ceremony, which is incredible. And, you know, I was just like, dang, that's a long way to come when you even reflect back and think about where you've been growing up in the Bahamas, your life experiences, and then here you are at the ceremony as the commencement speaker, and you're looking out into the faces of future graduates, leaders of society.

How does that make you feel, and what was the message that you wanted to get across? Yeah, I mean, it made me feel honored, obviously. It definitely made me very, like, reflective, just even, like, all the moments and all the preparation leading up to the moment of giving up a commencement speech and also receiving my honorary doctorate. But the message that I wanted to send to them was just that the journey isn't linear. Like there's going to be ups and downs.

There's going to be times when you kind of feel like you're not making progress, but the consistency is the most important thing. Trusting the people that are around you and trusting in your foundation is going to be important. And then also having fun while you're going along that journey, because I think a lot of times we feel like We're supposed to just like, oh, when we get there is when we're going to enjoy it or when I get this is when I'm going to be happy.

And when I get that, I'm going to be happy. Whereas it's the journey to getting those things that oftentimes have like better memories than actual things that we want to achieve and the success that we want to have. And it's the people that you meet along the way that kind of matter and that kind of shape you into the person that you want to be. So just understanding that, you know, we all have things that we want to achieve. but it's the people around you. It's the way that you go about going down that path and really just enjoying it, having fun, and living in the moment. Yeah.

I mean, sheesh, what a year it's been for you, all of these different huge stages that you've prepared for on top of winning the championship. I mean, you sound like the type of person who might have already given it thought or is putting steps towards it. Like, what could you even imagine for yourself after basketball? Oh, man, after basketball? And, okay, okay, I mean, I think about this a lot.

I think the first thing for me is just to continue to build my real estate portfolio so that, like, I don't have to work if I don't want to. That's the main thing. And then even bigger than that, like in a perfect world, if I could get the right amount of investment and the right people that have the same vision as me is for me to, like, I really want to, like, go back home to the Bahamas and build, like, the infrastructure. to get, especially basketball players, but not just basketball players, all athletes, the facilities, the training, and I said before, the infrastructure to really get them to be able to stay home in the Bahamas, develop their games, and not have to leave home at such a young age like I had to do. So I left home at like 13, 14, so I missed a lot of family dinners.

I missed a lot of birthdays. I missed a lot of nieces and nephews growing up. And so, like, I sacrificed a lot for this game, and it's given a lot back to me, but I I think now we should as the new, you know, the role models and we have so many NBA players now. I'm in the WMBA. We have so many professional athletes that are doing amazing things and Olympic goal medalists and track and field and all this stuff. And I think it's our duty now to just make sure that our kids can stay at home and be able to do all of that at home and not have to leave at such a young age. So I think that's the big thing for me too.

Absolutely. That's a beautiful way to pay it forward and to give back to young people like yourself coming up where they don't have to be exported out, you know, and can be homegrown and still pursue that career but also live full lives on their homeland. You were quite impressive. I thought you was, I was impressed because you could shoot the three ball well as a six six center, but like it's way beyond that with you. Thank you so much. And I truly appreciate the time and you joining us here at Good Follow show. I appreciate you. Thank you. Yeah, yeah. Okay, I'll see you at the court. I'll be in the next game. With Amex Platinum,

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the defender, Octa, is taking on the Dakar Rally, the ultimate off-road challenge. Learn more at landrover.ca. Oh my gosh. Welcome back, guys, the Goodfalo Show. That was so awesome to have. have that quality time and a chance to have an exclusive sit-down interview with Johnquell Jones, finals, MVP of the reigning WNBA champs, New York Liberty.

We so appreciate her time. And actually, now we are at the point of the show where we're running out of time. So we've got to get some quick hits, some headlines, and you know who got it for us? Our girl, Logan Hackett. Logan, what's up? It has been a big week in other women sports other than basketball. But y'all, I want to start with Alex Ayala. She became the first female Filipino player to win a main draw match at the U.S. Open.

And she is the people's sweetheart. It's almost like the treatment that Emma Rajukanu got when she won the U.S. Open a few years ago. Everyone loves her. She's a sweetheart, giving handhearts to the crowd. If you haven't watched her, please go watch her. It is amazing. I love how we, like, find different players and personalities to fall in love with and, like, stories through these tournament runs. Yes, and it really helps with her on-court interviews after she is just so for the fans.

But another really exciting thing is Lisbeth Ovay broke the record for the largest transfer deal, going to the Orlando Pride. So we're staying kind of local for $1.5 million. The one before this was just a few months ago, Olivia Smith, who was actually from Ontario, yay, go Olivia. But she went to Arsenal for $1.4 million year by year, the price just keeps on going up. Remember we were just talking about a millie for Germa? Like, there's been three and nine months.

And before that, it took 18 years for the last one. Like, all of it, the game is changing. Yep. And we love to see it. And actually, with Elizabeth going to Orlando, they actually did have someone dip out. And that's Barbara Banda, who was a key player for them. She's out for the rest of the season with the hip injury. Really sucks to see, but hoping she can come back better than ever next year.

Absolutely. Full recovery. And the last one we have is the Women's Rugby World Cup is going on. There's a lot of blowouts. but England beat USA 69 to 7. 69 to 7 is crazy, but I'm still USA. USA. Well, thank you so much, Logan, for coming through with the quick hits and headlines.

And actually, that will do it now for this episode of Good Follow show. We thank all of y'all for rocking out with us. We drop Tuesdays and Thursdays wherever you get your podcast. Subscribe, subscribe. Let's get these numbers up. Okay, we're presented by Draft Kings. And we also want to give a big shout out to John Quill Jones for joining our show. It's such a big show for us in interview today.

And that'll do it for this one. We'll catch you next week. Bye all.