Former Sky guard Dana Evans finds peace — and a second championship with the Aces

PHOENIX — Here’s one play from the 2023 Sky season that doesn’t mean much — except that it tells you all you need to know about Dana Evans. The Sky were up big, running in transition. Star guard Courtney Williams called for Evans to cut through and keep the offense moving. Evans ignored her and demanded the ball. Williams relented. Evans buried a 27-footer.

“No moments are too big for her,” Aces guard Jewell Loyd said of Evans.

As a rookie on the 2021 Sky championship team, Evans never was shy. Her eyes would meet the rim — often three feet beyond the arc — and she’d let it fly. Probably wasn’t the play call, but who could blame her? She shot 40% from three in Year One.

She’s grown up plenty since then. Established herself as a sparkplug off the Aces bench, given opposing coaches headaches throughout the playoffs.

In the semifinals, when asked what led to switching to a zone defense, Fever coach Stephanie White said:

“The thinking was: we could not stop Dana Evans.”

Evans was blasting by everyone and spraying out to shooters — a role she embraced on an Aces team loaded with firepower. There’s A’ja Wilson, the four-time MVP. There’s Chelsea Gray, the “Point Gawd.” And Jackie Young, maybe the purest scorer in the league.

Still, you can’t take the scorer out of Evans. She’s still working on finishing efficiently at the rim, but from deep, she’s become downright dangerous.

“That baby can shoot,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said after Game 1. “She busts all my shooting drills.”

Evans had just dropped a 20-piece in the Aces victory, so everyone wanted to know about these drills. Specifically, something called the Spurs 100 — a drill Hammon brought over from her NBA days. Reporters wanted to know Evans’ exact score.

“86-89,” Evans said confidently, pointing toward the final score of the game, assuming that’s what everyone was talking about.

The room burst into laughter.

“Not our score — your score!” Hammon said.

Evans’ hand shot up to her mouth, laughing. Seated next to Wilson, she couldn’t believe she was still the center of attention.

But she’d earned it. Her three with 3:30 left had been the turning point. Now reporters wanted to know what the moment meant to her. How did it feel, having evolved from someone who believed that she could take over a Finals game, to actually doing it?

She answered like a pro — measured, deferential. She talked about doing whatever the team needed, about being a spark, about leading with her defense.

Then she started talking about her teammates — Wilson, Gray, Young — and that’s when the emotion showed.

“It’s more so [that we’re] doing it for each other,” she said. “That’s brought us so much closer together. We really wanna do it for one another.”

Clearly, this season brought relief for Evans. Her last one in Chicago was rough. She requested a trade midway through after being jerked around in the rotation and worn down by online abuse from the Sky’s own fan base. All the outside noise made it hard to focus on basketball.

She needed to rediscover her joy for the game. She knows she’s at her best when she’s having fun — something her biggest supporter, her dad, has been reminding her of since last year.

“He always talks about me having peace and being happy,” Evans told the Sun-Times.

Looks like he has a point.

A joyful Evans made more than half her threes in the Finals — the Aces’ most efficient shooter, even as Loyd, Gray and Wilson all cleared 40% from deep. In the clincher, she drilled two daggers during the run that set the tone.

Now Evans — the 5-foot-6 kid from Gary, Indiana — is a two-time champion.

How’s that for finding peace?