Former WNBA MVP announces retirement from professional basketball

Two-time WNBA MVP and WNBA Champion Elena Delle Donne announced her retirement via Instagram.

After over a decade playing professional basketball, WNBA legend Elena Delle Donne has decided to hang up her shoes. This comes a year after she decided to sit out the 2024 season after being cored by the Washington Mystics.

She announced her retirement via her personal Instagram page.

Delle Donne is a player who always carved her own path in the sport, being a trailblazer for younger generations of players who came after. She made news when she decided to leave the University of Connecticut and instead played for her hometown University of Delaware. She was then drafted No. 2 overall in the 2013 WNBA draft to the Chicago Sky, winning Rookie of the Year. She was awarded the WNBA MVP award for the first time in 2015.

In 2017, she was traded to the Washington Mystics, eventually leading the franchise to their first WNBA Championship in 2019 — her second MVP year.

In 2020, Delle Donne opted out of the WNBA’s bubble season in order to avoid exposure to the COVID virus. She was at an elevated risk for complications due to her having Lyme Disease, and was also recovering from back injuries suffered in the 2019 season. The rest of Delle Donne’s professional career was limited due to her ongoing back injuries, and she underwent several surgeries in an attempt to return to the court. Her last season in the WNBA was in 2023, as she then opted to not participate in the 2024 season.

Along with her two MVP awards, Rookie of the Year and WNBA Championship, Delle Donne has a long list of accolades in her career. She was a 7x WNBA All-Star, 4x All-WNBA First Team member, and made one All-WNBA Second Team. She won both an Olympic Gold Medal (2016) and World Cup (2018) with Team USA basketball.

In 11 WNBA seasons, Delle Donne averaged 19.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists, shooting 47.5% from the field.

Delle Donne is the latest of several WNBA legends to retire from the league in the last few seasons, including Candace Parker, Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird and more. A generation of trailblazers who left the game better than they found it as we welcome in a new era of women’s basketball.