On May 14, 2017, Elena Delle Donne made her debut for the Washington Mystics, scoring a team-high 26 points in an 89–74 win over the San Antonio Stars. On May 19, 2017, Delle Donne scored a season-high 27 points in a 99–89 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks. On September 1, 2017, Delle Donne scored a new season-high of 37 points along with a career-high 6 three-pointers in a 110–106 overtime win against the Seattle Storm as Washington Mystics secured a playoff berth as the No. 6 seed in the league with an 18–16 record.

In the 2018 season, with Meesseman sitting out the season to play for Team Belgium in the FIBA World Tournament, Elena Delle Donne played at the power forward position in the starting lineup. On June 13, 2018, Elena Delle Donne scored a season-high 36 points in a 95–91 victory over the Connecticut Sun. After scoring 23 points in a 77–80 loss to the Atlanta Dream, Elena Delle Donne became the fastest player in WNBA history to score 3,000 points, completing the feat in 148 games. Delle Donne was voted into the 2018 WNBA All-Star Game, receiving her fifth all-star appearance. By the end of regular season, Elena Delle Donne averaged 20.7 ppg. Washington Mystics were the number three seed with a 22–12 record, receiving a bye to the second round elimination game.

During the 2019 season, Elena Delle Donne was voted into the WNBA all-star game, making it her 6th all-star appearance and was also named Team Captain after receiving the top two votes among all-stars in the league for the new all-star game voting format. On July 30, 2019, she scored a season-high 33 points in a 99–93 victory over the Phoenix Mercury. By the end of the season and with the help of Meesseman’s return, the Mystics finished as the No. 1 seed in the league with a 26–8 record, receiving a double-bye to the semi-finals. During the playoffs it was announced that Elena Delle Donne had won the MVP award, making it her second career MVP award. She also made the All-WNBA First Team and finished the regular season with a new career-high in field goal percentage. In the semi-finals, the Mystics defeated the Las Vegas Aces 3–1 to advance to the WNBA Finals for the second year in a row, also making it Elena Delle Donne’s third finals appearance and later earned her first WNBA championship. She also became the first woman to join the prestigious 50–40–90 club (50% field goals, 40% 3-point shooting and 90% free throws over a single season), marking great all-around shooters.

In 2020, Elena Delle Donne opted to sit out the entire season due to health concerns and preexisting risk factors with the COVID-19 pandemic. Elena Delle Donne was limited to three games during the 2021 WNBA season. During that season, she was named to The W25 as one of the top 25 players of the league’s first 25 years.

In February 2024, Elena Delle Donne announced that she would step away from basketball and did not sign the contract Washington Mystics had offered her.

The post Elena Delle Donne for Washington Mystics appeared first on Elena Delle Donne fanpage.

In her professional debut, Elena Delle Donne scored 22 points against fellow rookie Brittney Griner and the Phoenix Mercury, in a 102–80 victory. She led all players in votes for the 2013 WNBA All-Star Game, the first time a rookie had done so in league history. However, a concussion forced her to miss the game. After the All-Star break, Elena Delle Donne returned to action, and continued to play at a high level. The Sky not only qualified for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, but they also earned the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Elena Delle Donne was named the 2013 Rookie of the Year.

The 2014 regular season had Elena Delle Donne playing only 16 games due to a disease, averaging less than 19 minutes in the final seven games. Eventually, she rose up during the playoffs, helping the Chicago Sky defeat the Atlanta Dream in the first round, scoring 34 points. However, Elena Delle Donne was elbowed while going for a rebound in the Atlanta series, and suffered a back injury that reduced her play time in the following round against the Indiana Fever. The Sky still got to the WNBA finals, but they lost to the Phoenix Mercury. Elena Delle Donne played only ten minutes in the first game, she took medication to play 68 minutes and score 45 points over the final two games.

On September 16, 2015, Elena Delle Donne was named the WNBA MVP for the 2015 season. She scored a league-high 23.4 points per game, shot a career-high 95% from the free throw line, and was ranked third in the league in rebounding. She received 38 of 39 first-place votes. During the regular season, Elena Delle Donne scored a career-high 45 points in an overtime win against the Atlanta Dream, while making 19 consecutive free throws, a WNBA record.

In the 2016 season, sge averaged 21.5 points per game, helping the Chicago Sky to another playoff berth as they finished 18–16. With the WNBA’s new playoff format in effect, the Sky were the No. 4 seed in the league, which earned them a bye to the second round. Unfortunately, Elena Delle Donne had suffered an injury on her right thumb in a loss to the Washington Mystics. Elena Delle Donne had season-ending surgery that kept her out for the playoffs. Elena Delle Donne played 28 games in the season before the injury. Without her, Chicago Sky still had a decent playoff run, advancing to the semifinals (the last round before the WNBA finals) where they lost 3–1 to the eventual champion Los Angeles Sparks.

The post Elena Delle Donne for Chicago Sky appeared first on Elena Delle Donne fanpage.

A week after leaving Connecticut, Elena Delle Donne said by telephone from her home in Wilmington that she has “a lot of personal issues to fix. Only my family understands what’s going on. Right now I am going to take a long personal break”. She took a similar break prior to the 2007/2008 season in high school.

On August 16, 2008, Elena Delle Donne announced she would not accept the scholarship due to burnout, and instead decided to enroll at the University of Delaware and join their volleyball team as a walk-on.

On June 2, 2009, Elena Delle Donne announced that she would play basketball for the Blue Hens in the 2009/2010 season as a redshirt freshman. She had a very productive freshman season. She averaged 26.7 points per game, the third-highest of all Division I women’s basketball players. She scored 54 points in a loss against James Madison on February 18, 2010, which was the highest single-game point total by any Division I female basketball player that season. She was named the CAA Rookie of the Week six times, and the player of the week once during 2009/2010.

She was voted the CAA’s “Player of the Year” and “Rookie of the Year” in women’s basketball by CAA coaches, sports information directors and media.

In her sophomore season, the team started off well, but then Elena Delle Donne began to develop flu-like symptoms. In a game against Penn State, she asked to be taken out of the game, something she had never done before. After many tests, the doctors finally diagnosed her with Lyme disease. She struggled the rest of the season, but she helped her team reach the finals of the conference tournament and an invitation to the Women’s NIT.

As a junior, Elena Delle Donne led the nation in scoring, finishing the season with an average of 28.1 points per game. Her prowess attracted many fans to the Blue Hens games, with attendance rising 250% from the previous year. On February 16, 2012, Elena Delle Donne scored 42 points in a win over Hofstra, eclipsing the 2,000-point mark for her career. Delaware was the CAA champions, qualifying for the 2012 NCAA Women’s Division I Basketball Tournament. Elena Delle Donne scored 39 out of the Blue Hens’ first 56 points in their first-round victory over UALR. Delaware led at halftime against Kansas in the next game, but despite Elena Delle Donne’s 34 points, the Jayhawks still won.

During the 2012/2013 season, she again fought Lyme disease, missing four games due to the illness. Elena Delle Donne returned on December 12 against Maryland and led the team with 19 points and 6 rebounds in a 69–53 loss. This game was the largest crowd (5,089) to ever to see a women’s basketball game at the Bob Carpenter Center, the Blue Hens’ homecourt.

Elena Delle Donne led her team in scoring in 22 regular season games during her senior season, as well as in rebounds in 12 games. She scored more than 30 points on five occasions, leading her team to a 27–3 regular season record entering CAA conference tournament play.

After winning the CAA conference tournament, the Blue Hens were the No. 6 seed in their region of the 2013 NCAA Women’s Division I Basketball Tournament. Elena Delle Donne led them to victories over No. 11 West Virginia and No. 3 North Carolina.

The post Elena Delle Donne College career appeared first on Elena Delle Donne fanpage.

Elena Delle Donne played college basketball for the Delaware Blue Hens from 2009 to 2013. She was drafted by the Chicago Sky with the second overall pick of the 2013 WNBA draft, and led the Chicago Sky to the 2014 WNBA Finals, where they were defeated by the Phoenix Mercury. Elena Delle Donne was traded to the Washington Mystics in 2017 and led them to their first WNBA championship in 2019.

Elena Delle Donne has won two WNBA Most Valuable Player Awards (2015, 2019), been selected to seven All-Star teams, and was the first WNBA player to join the 50–40–90 club. She is by far the all-time leader in free throw percentage in WNBA history, with a mark of 93.7%.

The post Elena Delle Donne biography appeared first on Elena Delle Donne fanpage.