Elena Delle Donne Reflects in Uncasville on Hall of Fame Career and Lasting WNBA Impact

Former WNBA star says stepping away from UConn helped her rediscover the game

UNCASVILLE, Connecticut — Elena Delle Donne reflected on the choices, illness and relentless pursuit of improvement that shaped her career as the former WNBA MVP prepared for her Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame induction in Uncasville. The 36-year-old said her path to basketball’s highest honor began not with professional stardom, but with a difficult decision as a teenager to leave the University of Connecticut and return home to Delaware.

Delle Donne arrived at UConn in 2008 as a rare 6-foot-6 forward with the ballhandling, passing and shooting ability usually associated with guards. Huskies coach Geno Auriemma saw an unusual talent in her, but Delle Donne quickly concluded that she no longer loved the sport under the pressures she was carrying.

Her separation from her older sister, Lizzie — who is deaf and blind and has cerebral palsy — was particularly difficult. Delle Donne has said the sisters can communicate only in person, making the move away from Delaware especially painful. She ultimately left UConn, reassessed her life and later found that basketball was not the source of the unhappiness she had felt.

“Luckily, because I was brave enough to … give it up, I was also able to realize I’m blaming the game of basketball for a lot of other things I haven’t figured out in life,” Delle Donne said.

A career that reshaped the modern forward position

After returning home, Delle Donne starred at the University of Delaware before being selected second overall by the Chicago Sky in the 2013 WNBA Draft. Her success helped validate the rise of versatile, perimeter-skilled frontcourt players — a style that has become central to the modern women’s game.

In Chicago, she led the Sky to the franchise’s first WNBA Finals appearance in 2014 and won league Most Valuable Player honors in 2015. Delle Donne said that stage was meaningful because it answered doubts over whether she could thrive away from her home state.

She later reached another level with the Washington Mystics. In 2019, Delle Donne led Washington to its first WNBA championship and became the first player in league history to post a 50% field-goal percentage, 40% three-point percentage and 90% free-throw percentage in the same season. The statistical milestone underscored an efficiency that made her one of the era’s most difficult offensive matchups.

Her career also unfolded during a period in which WNBA players became increasingly visible advocates for health, wellness and mental well-being. Delle Donne publicly discussed her chronic Lyme disease and the daily effects of pain, while also playing through serious back problems that contributed to the end of her playing career.

Staying connected to basketball after retirement

Delle Donne remains involved in the sport through her role as managing director of USA Basketball’s 3x3 program and as an adviser to the Mystics. Her work includes player evaluation and occasional on-court involvement during team activities, allowing her to remain close to a game she first fell in love with while shooting over a ladder in her backyard.

Outside basketball, Delle Donne and her wife, Amanda, operate a woodworking business started in 2016. She has compared the concentration and creativity of woodworking with the practice habits that drove her development as a player, though she has said the solitary craft lacks the camaraderie of a locker room.

She continues to train with two heavy lifting sessions each week, not to chase another basketball milestone but to support her health. As Delle Donne enters the Hall of Fame, she remains active in the game and continues to speak openly about managing pain, vulnerability and recovery.