Connecticut Sun retire Alyssa Thomas' No. 25 in emotional farewell

The Connecticut Sun retired Alyssa Thomas’ No. 25 jersey in Uncasville on Friday night, turning a farewell into a franchise milestone. The ceremony recognized an 11-year run that helped define the Sun’s identity and gave the team one of the most durable and versatile players in WNBA history.

Thomas was the engine that made Connecticut go, a forward whose value extended far beyond scoring. She became the Sun’s all-time leader in games played, points, rebounds, assists and steals, and a Sun social post noted that she is the only player in franchise history to reach those record-book heights. That kind of production is why the retirement carried such weight: Thomas was not only a top performer, she was the standard around which the team built its best seasons.

The Sun reached two WNBA Finals and six consecutive playoff semifinals with Thomas on the roster, a stretch that gave Connecticut a sustained place among the league’s most competitive teams. For a franchise with no championships, those runs formed much of its modern identity, and Thomas was at the center of nearly all of it. Basketball-Reference lists the Sun as a 28-season franchise through 2026 with 17 playoff appearances and zero titles, underscoring why honoring a player of Thomas’ stature carries added meaning in the organization’s history.

The farewell also reflected the way the WNBA is building institutional memory around its stars. Jersey retirements are still rare enough to feel special, but they are becoming one of the clearest ways teams mark eras and connect present-day rosters to the players who built the culture before them. Mercury teammates wore No. 25 shirts as the Sun retired Thomas’ jersey, a sign that her reputation traveled beyond Connecticut and that her impact resonated across locker rooms.

For the Sun, the night was about more than nostalgia. It placed Thomas alongside the franchise’s most enduring figures and formalized her place in team history. For Connecticut supporters, it closed one chapter with a public tribute to a player whose toughness, versatility and consistency helped make the Sun relevant season after season.