USA TODAY International Edition
THE LEAGUE’S MOST DOMINANT PLAYER
Elena Delle Donne’s stats are impressive, but her play goes beyond numbers
At a pivotal time in
CHICAGO women’s sports, the Chicago Sky’s Elena Delle Donne is putting together a historic season.
With Carli Lloyd and Serena Williams putting women’s sports in the spotlight, Delle Donne is performing in ways that can elevate the WNBA to the same levels of fandom of its soccer and tennis counterparts.
Delle Donne led the WNBA in votes for the All- Star Game, and she will start for the East on Saturday. She is hoping to ride the wave started by Lloyd, the U. S. women’s national team and Williams.
“This is an incredible time right now for women’s sports. People are finally starting to take notice,” Delle Donne told USA TODAY Sports. “We all have really awesome stories, and we’re all really good basketball players. It might be our stories that attracts them, and when they come watch, they’ll be coming back for sure.”
As of yet, the fans aren’t coming out in huge numbers. Tuesday, as Delle Donne led the Sky past the Atlanta Dream with 27 points, eight rebounds and four blocks, 5,967 fans watched at Allstate Arena in suburban Chicago.
The fans who are tuning in are watching the most dominant player in the WNBA. In her third season, she leads the league in scoring with 24.5 points a game and is on pace to break the WNBA’s scoring average record. At 9.8 rebounds a game, she’s
ranked third, and on defense, she has 41 blocks in 17 games.
With a career free throw shooting percentage of 93.8%, she would easily beat out all- time NBA leader Steve Nash, whose career record was 90.4%. In her 52nd career game, Delle Donne scored her 1,000th point, making her the third- fastest WNBA player to do so.
But her play goes beyond numbers. Delle Donne’s teammates point to her ability to give them scoring opportunities.
“She brings so much attention on the court, and that opens up a lot of things. We can play through her. We also get a lot because teams are so focused on her,” said Courtney Vandersloot, who is ranked second in the league with 5.0 assists a game.
“She doesn’t ask for too much. She is a superstar in the league, and they sometimes can be intimidating,” teammate Cappie Pondexter said. “She doesn’t come across that way, and that’s helpful.”
The key to her play isn’t just her size — she stands 6- 5 — or shooting ability. It’s her versatility.
The Sky use Delle Donne in several different positions throughout the game, giving opponents a puzzle to try — and often fail — to figure out.
“It’s a joy to be able to go into your bag and do things on the fly, because she’s such a high- level player,” Sky coach Pokey Chatman said. “They’ll go small, they’ll double, they’ll go big and body up, because she can score a multitude of ways.”
Delle Donne’s breakout season comes a year after she missed several games because of a back injury and health problems. As a sophomore at Delaware, Delle Donne was diagnosed with Lyme disease, and she has dealt with symptoms of fatigue and body pains throughout her career.
She meets with her doctor weekly to update her protocol and gets massages to help deal with the body aches. Chatman says she is in constant communication with Delle Donne to make sure she is getting enough rest to avoid exacerbation of her symptoms.
Before this season, Delle Donne switched strength trainers and went to her home in Delaware to focus on her health. The change in her strength is obvious, and her health will be key as the Sky face the second half of the season.
In its 10 years in the WNBA, the Sky has yet to win a title. Even if Delle Donne’s season breaks records, it will ring hollow if she cannot raise a trophy at the end of the season.
She says she doesn’t pay attention to any statistics except wonlost records.
And she won’t even go as far as to say that she’s peaking.
“That’s why I play this game, to constantly get better. I don’t think I’ll ever have a peaking moment,” Delle Donne said.