Delle Donne ‘hurt’ that request denied by panel of doctors
WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne was shocked and hurt when her request to be medically excused for the season was denied by an independent medical panel.
Having dealt with Lyme disease for more than a decade and now taking 64 pills a day, she thought she was definitely going to be considered highrisk to get severe illness if she contracted the coronavirus.
The panel of independent doctors the league and union agreed upon to make that decision thought otherwise, ruling Monday that she was not “high risk, and should be permitted to play in the bubble.”
The disease is not included on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s list of underlying conditions that could put someone at an increased risk for severe illness from COVID19.
The Washington Mystics’ forward wrote in the Players’ Tribune on Wednesday about her disappointment with the panel’s ruling and the decision to “risk my life … or forfeit my paycheck.”
“It hurts a lot. And maybe being hurt just makes me naive,” Delle Donne wrote. “And I know that, as athletes, we’re not really supposed to talk about our feelings. But feelings are pretty much all I have left right now. I don’t have NBA player money. I don’t have the desire to go to war with the league on this. And I can’t appeal.”
Delle Donne, who resigned with Washington in February and would make $215,000 this year, said she’s still deciding whether to play.
Washington head coach and general manager Mike Thibault said Delle Donne wouldn’t be rushed back. She is rehabbing from surgery in late January for three herniated disks.
Delle Donne, 30, became the first national ambassador to help promote awareness of Lyme disease, a tickborne disease, in 2014.
She is coming off a historic season in which she helped lead Washington to its first WNBA title. She became the first in league history to shoot over 50% from the field, 40% from behind the 3point arc and over 90% from the foul line.
Delle Donne did not travel with the team to Bradenton, Fla. The WNBA is using IMG Academy as a single site for its season, which will begin July 25.