New York
Tina Charles, the WNBA’s all-time leading rebounder, is retiring from the league, the eight-time All-Star announced Tuesday on social media.
Charles, who had 4,262 rebounds in her profession, additionally completed because the league’s No. 2 all-time scorer behind Diana Taurasi. The 15-year veteran scored 8,396 factors within the common season.
“Today, I officially announce my retirement from basketball. Fifteen years at the professional level and a lifetime of love for this game,” Charles wrote in her submit. “I’ve experienced the highest highs and the lowest lows, and I’m thankful for all of it. Through it all, I learned how to show up. When doubt got loud and narratives were written about me, I kept showing up. That’s the New Yorker in me, where resilience is built, not talked about.”
Charles was the No. 1 pick by the Connecticut Sun in 2010 after serving to the UConn Huskies win consecutive NCAA championships in 2009 and 2010. She was the AP Player of the Year in 2010.
She performed with the Sun till 2013 earlier than a blockbuster commerce despatched her house to New York.
She starred in her hometown via the 2019 season. She sat out the WNBA bubble season the following yr earlier than taking part in in Washington, Phoenix, Seattle and Atlanta. Charles got here again to Connecticut final season and began 42 video games whereas averaging 16.3 factors and 5.8 rebounds.
The 37-year-old middle helped the US win three Olympic gold medals in addition to three World Cup championships. She earned WNBA MVP honors in 2012 and was the league’s prime scorer in two seasons. The one factor Charles by no means had an opportunity to do was play in a WNBA Finals.
“This game gave me everything, and I’ll miss it deeply,” Charles stated. “But my mom always taught me, don’t stop at what you’ve done, keep going toward what you still see. And I still see so much. There are still dreams in my heart waiting to be lived, and I can’t wait to share that journey with you all.”
Besides her affect on the court docket, Charles has left an enduring one off of it, serving to to save lots of numerous lives for greater than a decade together with her charity – Hopey’s Heart Foundation. She’s donated 500 AEDs (automated exterior defibrillators) via the group that began in 2013 and is called in honor of her aunt.
It’s devoted to curbing deaths within the United States from sudden cardiac arrest. The group works to make sure faculties and public locations have lifesaving gear equivalent to defibrillators readily available.
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Charles stated that earlier than she began the muse she didn’t notice how frequent and lethal sudden cardiac arrest might be till she examine Wes Leonard, a highschool basketball participant who suffered a coronary heart assault and died after basketball observe in 2011.
And when her aunt died a couple of years later from organ failure, Charles dedicated herself to serving to to resolve the issue.
In 2017, when Charles was taking part in for the New York Liberty, she was shocked by the crew by a person who was saved by one of many AEDs that the star had donated.
“Beyond her extraordinary accomplishments, Tina has represented the very best of the WNBA throughout her career,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert stated in a statement. “Through her management and dedication to giving again – together with her work together with her Hopey’s Heart Foundation – she has made a significant affect far past the sport, incomes the Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award twice.
“Her legacy will be defined not only by her excellence on the court, but by the standard she set as a leader, a teammate, and a champion for the communities she touched.”