UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- After being "humbled" by a rocky offseason that included a two-game suspension and a physical altercation, Connecticut Sun guard Courtney Williams is thrilled to be back with her former team.
After a two-year stint in Atlanta, Williams has her sights set on helping the Sun finish what they started from their 2019 run to the WNBA Finals.
"They literally just sent me a text that said, 'Yo, you ready to come home?' I was like, 'Say less, I'm coming,'" Williams told ESPN Wednesday about her decision to return to Uncasville in free agency. "It was really easy. It was a simple thing, to be honest."
After falling to the eventual champion Chicago Sky in the semifinals of the 2021 playoffs, the Sun made a splash in free agency this year by bringing back Williams, who enters her seventh season in the WNBA as one of the league's most dynamic guards. The move, which general manager and head coach Curt Miller said his veteran players advocated for, is what the Sun hope will push them across the finish line to earn the franchise's first WNBA title after three consecutive appearances in the semifinals or better.
Williams spent nearly the entirety of her first four seasons in the league in Connecticut, including 2019 when the Sun battled the Washington Mystics to five games and came within one win of a WNBA championship. Williams departed for Atlanta in free agency shortly thereafter.
She spent two seasons with the Dream, which included her first All-Star honor in 2021 when she finished with career highs in scoring (16.5 points per game) and assists (4.0). She also shot 38.2% from 3 and continued to be one of the better rebounding guards in the league, averaging 6.8 boards per game in 2021.
However, the Dream failed to reach 10 wins in either season Williams was there, going 15-39 across her tenure. The franchise was riddled with instability, as a new ownership group, general manager and head coach took over.
This past offseason, Williams posted a YouTube video that showed footage from May of her and teammate Crystal Bradford involved in a fight outside an Atlanta-area club. The Dream declined to re-sign either player, who were both free agents, and the WNBA ultimately suspended Williams for two games, which she will serve at the beginning of this season.
At the time, Williams' agent said that the Dream knew of the incident when it happened, and Williams publicly apologized. When it came to finding her new home, Connecticut's "support" and "love" during that rough patch, Williams said, is what made her want to come back.
"It's easy to want somebody when they're up, right?" Williams said. "But when everybody's against you, is it still the same love? And they showed me the same love."
Back when the Sun announced her return, Miller said the franchise vetted and "talked to Courtney about expectations from our franchise, expectations on what it means to be a Connecticut Sun and come back into our culture and come back with us."
Williams says she's learned from her missteps and "calmed down a lot."
"What I experienced this offseason, I feel like it just humbled me a lot and made me realize I've got to be a lot more mindful of the places that I go to and in situations that I put myself in," Williams said.
The guard added that she's also a different player than the one who left Connecticut following the 2019 Finals run. She will look to display that alongside reigning WNBA MVP Jonquel Jones, Jasmine Thomas, Alyssa Thomas and Brionna Jones, plus the Sun's 2020 free-agency addition in DeWanna Bonner.
"My basketball IQ, I feel like I can understand the game way better," Williams said. "Being on other teams, I had to think the game. When you're around people who know your game or you've been playing with for four years, I didn't have to think too much because they thought for me. Going to another team, you've got to learn everybody, so now you've got to really learn where you can pick your spots, where you can be effective."
Williams attributed the familiarity with many of her former teammates as a reason why the transition back to Connecticut has been relatively seamless.
"We were sad when she left us initially to go to Atlanta," said Jonquel Jones, one of the players who helped recruit her back to Connecticut. "We felt like in 2019, we were there. We literally were five minutes away from being a champion. It feels like you have a family member that went away and it's like 'Oh my gosh, she's back.' It's really good to have her back here and we love her, we missed her and we definitely need her."
Williams hopes to bring a championship to Connecticut.
"We're chasing the same goal. We want that ring," Williams said. "So every day brick by brick by brick, 'til we get to that mansion."