To fully understand the warmth of Kayla Thornton's spirit, you have to talk to those around her, listen to them, and watch a million smiles spread. Let's make it 2024 WNBA Finals MVP Jonquel Jones speaks.
“[Kayla is] He’s someone you want to be around,” Jones said. “someone [who] It has an energy that draws you in. ”
Joy immediately fills the air as members of the title-winning New York Liberty are encouraged to express their feelings for Thornton.
“I could talk about my daughter all day long,” Kennedy Burke said, sitting in a cozy courtside seat at Barclays Center after the team's shootaround in late August. “I feel like I can be myself around her. She's someone I respect not only on the court but off the court. She's always…”
It was at this point that Burke's sentence trailed off, and her thoughtful words were replaced by gleeful laughter. Thornton is standing in front of Burke's gaze, doing something that will inevitably provoke a fit of laughter.
After a while, Burke collects himself and ties a ribbon on the sentiment.
“She was a consistent teammate and a consistent friend.”
Given the WNBA's recent expansion draft, such small anecdotes now take on an undercurrent of sadness.
Photo by: Sarah Steer/Getty Images
On December 6, it was announced that the Golden State Valkyries had selected Thornton from New York for the Western Startup Ball Club. Thornton was not among the six players protected by the Liberty Brass, so he was eligible to be a member of the WNBA's 13th team.
Expansion is all sunshine and upside down until it stings you out of nowhere.
These reshape our perspective as sports fans and bring us to the reality that the people we admire from our perches in the stands, while perhaps reminiscent of God, are just like us. This is the moment to establish it. Work takes you to a new city, you say goodbye temporarily, and a lot of emotions come flooding back.
As we near the end of the calendar year, the year in which Thornton and Liberty brought New York City its first professional basketball title since the Knicks reigned supreme in 1973, we continue to build upon the legacy K.T. has built in the metropolis that eats and breathes it. It's natural for us to acknowledge that. hoop.
During his two seasons as a member of the Liberty, Thornton was beloved by a devout and passionate fan base. She was everything New York basketball fans wanted from their folk heroes, players whose signature snapshots include loose balls, dives and roars of celebration. All in, no games.
“She's passionate,” Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello said. “She's the heart and soul. When she's out there, people can feel that energy and how she uplifts her teammates. She makes sure everyone's ready.” It gives us a very positive attitude to make sure that we are doing the right thing.”
When I think of Thornton's mark on the Liberty legend, one particular play comes to mind. In a mid-July game last season, Sky guard Chenedy Carter intercepted a pass from Jones midway through the fourth quarter when Chicago was leading by seven points. Just as Carter had the basketball in his hands, Thornton pivoted upcourt and stepped on the gas. Carter skipped a pass to teammate Lindsay Allen. Lindsey Allen was leading the play at that point and was a full step ahead of Thornton. In what felt like a millisecond, Thornton closed the gap, sprinted past Allen, and flicked the ball out of Allen's hands and out of bounds.
This is where it really shines, elevating it from “just another Kayla Thornton hustle play” to “an iconic moment of freedom.” Mr. Thornton used his momentum to cross the baseline and jump over the photographer's feet to avoid a collision.
Perhaps shy of the outside world, Thornton's dramatic tendencies, her special ability to galvanize audiences and teams as one, should not be underestimated.
Instead of going into the break, Thornton continued jogging through the tunnel where Liberty's opponents entered and exited the court. Thornton, who was mostly out of sight of the television cameras at this point, turned around as if he were occupying a fashion week runway, and watched 17,758 enthusiastic onlookers (Liberty records at the time) in her palm.
Thornton reentered the courtroom and received the hero's welcome he deserved.
cold.
“It was all about her style,” teammate Sabrina Ionescu recalled days after the contest. I feel like the fans have completely embraced her and who she is and what she means to this team. She's probably one of the funniest people I've ever met, and the way she plays, obviously she's just fierce and tough. ”
Over the years, even some of its most respected “enemies” have echoed these sentiments.
“I knew she was a dog even before she was born.” [to New York] She did a really hard job [my] Team Phoenix,” said Brondello, who was at the helm of the Mercury from 2014 to 2021. [Taurasi] everytime. Diana hated playing against her. So I thought, 'Yeah, I can use that.' ”
What higher praise could there be than the irony of revealing that Diana Taurasi hated meeting you in the hardwood forest?
Thornton established his basketball identity at Irvine High School in El Paso, Texas, where he began to understand who he was as a player. Playing as one of Irvin's biggest rivals, Thornton was tasked with guarding a much taller opponent.
“She was about 6'6, so I didn't think she could win a height battle,” Thornton recalled. “I just hustle. I think that's where I took that identity from.”
It stuck with her throughout her career and proved a match made in heaven with the Liberty faithful.
“I'm just competitive,” Thornton said. “I feed the crowd. I feed the sixth man. I feed the hustle play.
“That's how I lead, and other people see that and it flows right away.”
The basketball elements are necessary to qualify himself as a significant figure in the franchise's history, but it's the moments in between that seem to resonate most emphatically.
We have to go back to Burke, who was Thornton's best friend on the team.
(Don't get me wrong: Thornton developed deep relationships with just about everyone in the organization. She and several other players formed various iterations of the Liberty Book Club. She was a member of a prayer group at Barclays. But when it comes to singing, Burke, as Thornton himself said in one article, “It's like my twiiiiin'.”
After practice or shootaround, Thornton and Burke may be seen skipping arm in arm through the arena facility. Or maybe they were featured in content filmed for the team's social media accounts (Papa John, KT? Really? ! ?). If one side is doing an interview scrum, the other side can wait until the media breaks up and work together to get on with their day.
Burke provided special insight into the deep and authentic side of Thornton's caring heart.
“Some days I don’t feel well,” she said. “Sometimes there are days when I don't want to be here, because everyone has moods, right? It's a mental game and it can be tough sometimes, but I feel like KT, she's always my She keeps it down and is always there. Whenever I'm feeling down, I text her. She knows how to pick me back up.
“She brings out the best in me on and off the court. Every time I've been hard on myself, she always picks me up and says, 'God is always with you.' . She reminds me of that. That's really important because sometimes it's tough. She always reminds me of what's important.
“KT really brought out that person that was hidden inside me.”
After all, that's the legacy Thornton leaves behind in Brooklyn. He is someone who makes others feel noticed, who can be silly or serious depending on the moment, who rises to meet every occasion when his light shines brightest. She won the WNBA Championship on her birthday Because I cried out loud. What about poetry?
Her presence will be celebrated in the Golden State, but she will be greatly missed back East.
In the end, I'll leave it to Kennedy Burke. Because no one can better describe the energy and influence of Kayla Thornton.
“Everywhere she goes, people are always smiling and laughing. That's who she is.”
