The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Charles sitting out 2020 season with medical exemption
UConn alum Tina Charles announced Friday she’s sitting out the 2020 WNBA season after receiving a medical exemption.
Charles, who was traded to the Washington Mystics during the offseason, wrote on The Players Tribune that she has a condition called extrinsic asthma, which impacts her immune system and leaves her at a higher risk for serious illness from COVID-19.
She did not travel to Florida to enter the WNBA bubble and will be paid her full salary.
“It’s going to be an adjustment not playing this year,” Charles, 31, wrote. “For the last 10 years, I’ve never not gone into a season. But sitting out the season is what I’m prepared to do.
“It’s not what I was anticipating for 2020, and as someone who loves playing this game, it’s tough.
“But as a human being, and someone who still has much to accomplish both on and off the court, sitting out this season to make sure that I stay healthy was something that I felt like I had to do.”
Charles revealed that she was diagnosed with the condition in 2016 after struggling to breathe while playing professionally in China. It led to pneumonia, bronchial spasms and other reoccurring breathing problems.
“I’ve been deemed to be at high risk by the league’s panel of physicians,” Charles said. “Just like so many people who have had to adjust to the COVID-19 world, I’ve been trying to adjust to the reality of not being able to compete in the league that I have worked so hard to play in.”
The 6-foot-3 forward is the third Washington player to officially opt out, joining Natasha Cloud and LaToya Sanders. Reigning MVP Elena Delle Donne, who was denied a medical exemption despite having chronic Lyme disease, could join them.
Washington acquired Charles, a former MVP and seven-time All-Star, from New York as part of a three-team deal this past April.
“While we are disappointed that Tina will not be with us this summer, we fully understand the reason for her medical exemption and look forward to having her with us next season,” head coach Mike Thibault said in a team statement. “Again, the health of our players takes precedence. There hasn’t been anything normal about playing this season, but we are prepared and excited to play with the group that is here in Florida. We are looking forward to starting our first game with Indiana on the 25th!”
Charles also said in her essay that she plans to make $846 donations to various Black-owned businesses and organizations in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
“That number, which ties back to the eight minutes and 46 seconds that George Floyd was brutalized, is significant,” Charles said. “And my hope is that these donations will help serve as a reminder of the injustice that occurred.”