Tina Charles, WNBA’s career rebound and field goal leader, retires after 14 seasons
In late March, Tina Charles traveled to China to play in a best-of-five series with Henan Phoenix, a Chinese women’s basketball club looking to move into its league’s top tier. Through four games, Charles, 37, averaged 22 points and eight boards while playing 29 minutes a game. Henan won, and Charles celebrated with teammates before boarding a flight back to New York.
Through the festivities, merriment and jet lag, Charles also felt something different — a true sense of clarity. She had gone into that decisive Game 4 knowing it could be her last basketball game she played. She put on and took off her uniform that day understanding it could be the final time she ever did that.
Ultimately, it was. After a storied career that included 14 seasons in the WNBA, two national championships at UConn, three Olympic gold medals and hundreds of games overseas, Charles’ final points came in a small gymnasium in central China. Charles told The Athletic she has retired from professional basketball and is at peace with moving away from the hardwood.
“I’m very thankful for the career that I’ve been able to have, the experiences I was able to have,” Charles said. “I gave everything to this game, and the game gave me everything that I needed to become who I am. So now, it’s just time to apply that same standard of what I held myself to on the court to what’s next.
” Charles is considered one of the WNBA’s silent megastars, the most talented player who never won a WNBA title. She leaves as one of the preeminent — and one of the last — back-to-the-basket posts who also revolutionized her own game, expanding her range to the 3-point line after attempting just 17 3s through the first six seasons of her career. She retires atop the WNBA leaderboard in career rebounds (4,262) and field goals made (3,364), and second in points scored (8,396).
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