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Is Elena Delle Donne's basketball career over? WNBA star taking a break, reports say

Kevin Tresolini, Delaware News Journal
·4 min read

Has Elena Delle Donne’s prolific playing career come to end?

That is not certain, but it is apparently on hold.

Delle Donne will not sign the one-year contract offered by the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, ESPN reported Wednesday night.

The former Ursuline Academy and University of Delaware All-American, who is now 34, “has decided to take some time away from basketball,” ESPN reported.

Elena Delle Donne of the Washington Mystics plays against the New York Liberty during the WNBA playoffs at the Barclays Center on September 19, 2023 in the Brooklyn.
Elena Delle Donne of the Washington Mystics plays against the New York Liberty during the WNBA playoffs at the Barclays Center on September 19, 2023 in the Brooklyn.

What’s next?

The 6-foot-5 Delle Donne is a free agent, but the Mystics retain her rights after having designated her a “core player.”

That allows Washington to offer what the WNBA calls a “supermax” one-year contract, which would pay her $241,984.

Delle Donne has elected not to sign that deal while mulling her future, ESPN reported.

How did she get here?

Delle Donne has played nine WNBA seasons since being drafted second overall in 2013 by the Chicago Sky. She was WNBA Rookie of the Year and played her first four seasons with Chicago, earning league MVP honors in 2015.

She then moved to the Mystics, earning her second MVP award in 2019 while sparking Washington to the league title.

But Delle Donne missed the 2020 WNBA season, held in a COVID-19 bubble in Orlando, Florida, after surgery for herniated discs in her back and continuing concerns with Lyme disease that plagued her since her sophomore 2010-11 season at Delaware.

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More back surgery in December of 2020 kept her out of all but three WNBA games in 2021. She was named to the W25, a list of the top 25 players in WNBA history, that year.

Delle Donne enjoyed a return to form last season, earning her seventh all-star selection, though she missed the game due to an ankle injury. She played in 23 games while averaging 16.7 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.

Elena Delle Donne of the Washington Mystics shoots against A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces in the third quarter of their game at Michelob ULTRA Arena on August 31, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Elena Delle Donne of the Washington Mystics shoots against A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces in the third quarter of their game at Michelob ULTRA Arena on August 31, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Why is Delle Donne so famous in Delaware?

Delle Donne was No. 1 in a 2022 ranking of Delaware’s all-time most accomplished athletes, and for good reason.

Before winning a gold medal at the 2016 Olympics and starring in the WNBA, she became a nationally known player at Ursuline Academy and the University of Delaware.

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Delle Donne was a five-time first-team All-State selection at Ursuline. Her 2,818 career points remain a Delaware high school record, boys or girls. She sparked Ursuline to four state titles.

As a sophomore in 2005-2006, Delle Donne set a national record by connecting on 80 consecutive free throws.

The consensus national high school player of the year as a senior, Delle Donne signed with NCAA power Connecticut. But Delle Donne left UConn after less than 48 hours on campus after arriving as a freshman in June of 2008, initially citing basketball burnout. She would later say simple homesickness and detachment from family spurred her departure.

Delaware junior Elena Delle Donne and her teammates celebrate a 3-pointer during her 39-point, 11-rebound performance in the Hens' win over Arkansas-Little Rock in the opening round of the NCAA women's basketball tournament, March 18, 2012 at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock, Ark.
Delaware junior Elena Delle Donne and her teammates celebrate a 3-pointer during her 39-point, 11-rebound performance in the Hens' win over Arkansas-Little Rock in the opening round of the NCAA women's basketball tournament, March 18, 2012 at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock, Ark.

Delle Donne enrolled at Delaware, where she played volleyball as a freshman in the fall of 2008 and starred on a team that reached the NCAA Tournament. She then returned to basketball in the 2009-10 season.

Frequently playing in front of huge Carpenter Center crowds, Delle Donne finished her Delaware career as the No. 5 scorer in NCAA Division I history with 3,039 career points despite missing 22 games due to illness or injuries. She was a three-time All-American.

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In her final two seasons, 2011-12 and 2012-13, Delaware regularly resided in the national Top 25 while going 42-0 in Colonial Athletic Association games and 63-6 overall. Delaware earned two NCAA Tournament berths, scoring epic home wins over West Virginia and North Carolina in 2013 before a Sweet 16 loss to Kentucky played, ironically, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, prior to a UConn game.

What about the 2024 Summer Olympics?

Injuries prevented Delle Donne from pursuing a spot on the 2020 Olympic team for the Tokyo Games that were moved to 2021 due to COVID.

She is also not on the roster for the U.S. team set to begin play today in the FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament today in Belgium for the 2024 Paris Games.

Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com and our DE Game Day newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Elena Delle Donne taking break WNBA's Mystics, ESPN reports