Elena Delle has announced her retirement from the basketball. | Photo by Joshua Huston/NBAE via Getty Images
As new women’s basketball legends are being made in the Final Four, it was a week to honor the some of the sport’s established greats.
EDD announces retirement
Congratulations to Elena Delle Donne! A WNBA champion, two-time MVP and Olympic gold medalist, Delle Donne announced her retirement from basketball on Friday, closing a 10-season WNBA career.
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While she will be remembered for her array of accomplishments, many powered by her picture-perfect jumper, Delle Donne also modeled player empowerment, consistently prioritizing her needs and desires as she persevered through uncomfortable, adverse circumstances.
Overwhelmed by the pressures of being a top prospect, all while dealing with homesickness, during the very early days of her college career, she left UConn and stepped away and from the game for awhile before returning to star for Delaware (2009-13), putting the Blue Hens on the national radar as she poured in points for the mid-major. An instant impact player in the WNBA after she was drafted No. 2 overall by the Chicago Sky in 2013, leading them to the WNBA Finals in 2014 and capturing the 2015 MVP award even as she managed debilitating bouts with Lyme Disease, she eventually decided to seek an opportunity to play closer to home in DC, demanding a trade to the Washington Mystics. There, she lifted the team into immediate contention, securing another MVP honor in 2019 before taking the Mystics to the team’s first title that same season. After that apex moment, the pandemic and persistent injury issues prevented Delle Donne from maintaining a consistent presence on the court. But whenever she suited up, the jumper was just as pure and the impact just as evident.
Delle Donne carved out a career her own way, and she’s rightfully retiring on her own terms. She wrote in her Instagram announcement, “My body seemed to make this decision before my mind accepted it but I now truly know this is the right thing for me at the right time,” before concluding, “It feels good to close this chapter knowing I gave it my all and I can’t wait for what’s next!”
Sue, Syl and Maya head to the Hall
Delle Donne, certainly, will be in the Hall of Fame one day, eventually joining class of 2025 inductees Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles and Maya Moore.
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As soon as the 2025 nominees were announced in December 2024, Bird, Fowles and Moore stood out as absolutely no-brainer selections—a fact that was confirmed with Saturday’s official announcement. All of three claim the kind of honors—individual and team, collegiate and professional and international—that make them unimpeachable, archetypal Hall of Famers. They’ll be enshrined in Springfield in September.
DT docuseries in the works
More news involving another future Hall of Famer. On Friday, Variety announced, “Taurasi,” a three-part docuseries about the recently-retired women’s hoops legend that will be created for Amazon Prime Video.
While no timeline for the docuseries’ release was shared, it will chronicle Taurasi’s “complex” and “remarkable” basketball career, in addition to highlighting her “unwavering loyalty to teammates and devotion to family” through interviews with Taurasi, her family, teammates, coaches and journalists.
Shoe news for Carrington, Iriafen
Shout out to sneaker brand for continuing to show an increased commitment to investing in women’s basketball players!
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This week, Reebok announced that DiJonai Carrington, now with the Dallas Wings, is part of the Reebok Basketball team, joining fellow WNBA players Angel Reese and Lexie Brown as “a brand ambassador for lifestyle and performance apparel.” During the Unrivaled season, Carrington, a member of Mist BC, wore Reebok’s Engine A sneaker.
Carrington, whose father was an NFL safety endorsed by Reebok, shared in light of the announcement, “I’m excited to continue the family legacy and join the Reebok Basketball roster. Reebok Basketball is officially back, and I can’t wait to bring the energy on court in the new Engine A.”
Skechers inked an endorsement deal with Kiki Iriafen, who is expected to be a first round pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft after closing out her standout college career at USC. Iriafen, who will sport the SKX Nexus when she makes her W debut, said of the partnership, “I love that the brand is based in my hometown of LA, and has the global reach to help me inspire and impact more female athletes worldwide to pursue their dreams.”
Iriafen is the second WNBA player signed by Skechers, with Rickea Jackson being the first.
Son tapped as Portland president
Portland’s WNBA expansion team, which will debut in 2026, is beginning to take shape.
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The still-unbranded team will be led by Inky Son, hired as team president on Tuesday. Son, a native of South Korea, began her career as a professional sports executive in 2015 with the MLB Players Association. Prior to accepting the position with Portland, she served as the chief administrative officer for the NBA Players Association.
On becoming the first employee of WNBA Portland, Son said, “This is an amazing opportunity to help bring back a WNBA franchise to Portland, a city that loves basketball and has already shown itself to be supportive of women’s sports.”
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