Elena Delle Donne

CTL-E-7073 · Person · other · 1989–present

VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-07945 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-7073.

Elena Delle Donne (born September 5, 1989) is a retired American forward whose career split between the Chicago Sky and the Washington Mystics made her the first player to win the WNBA's Most Valuable Player award with two different franchises. After a decorated career at Delaware, she was drafted second overall by Chicago in 2013 and immediately lifted a 5–29 expansion-era franchise: Rookie of the Year in 2013, a first Finals berth in 2014, and the 2015 MVP award in her third season. Traded to Washington before the 2017 season, she led the Mystics to their first Finals in 2018 and then, in 2019, to the franchise's first championship — winning her second MVP while recording the first 50-40-90 season in WNBA history, shooting better than 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from three, and 90 percent from the line, and playing the Finals through three herniated disks. Chronic Lyme disease and repeated back surgeries limited her final seasons; after sitting out 2024 she announced her retirement on April 4, 2025, as a seven-time All-Star, and moved into roles as a special advisor to Monumental Basketball and the first managing director of the USA 3x3 women's national team.

Notes

Afro American Encyclopedia of Sports roster CTL-SPE-0071 (Basketball, status stub per roster). Birth date (September 5, 1989) per her standard biographical record, carried with the Mystics' and Delaware accounts. Sky tenure as played_for: 2013–2016 (Washington 2017–2023; the Mystics are not homed in the graph, so no edge). Curator's Judgment (DRAFT): Delle Donne is the hinge of the Sky's first era — the superstar who made an expansion team a Finals team — and her second act in Washington, capped by the league's only 50-40-90 season, belongs equally to this record.

Relationships

• Chicago Sky — played for
  Drafted second overall by Chicago in 2013, Delle Donne was the Sky's 2013 Rookie of the Year and 2015 MVP before her 2017 trade to Washington (Washington Mystics / University of Delaware).

Sources

• Washington Mystics. "WNBA Champion Elena Delle Donne Retires." mystics.wnba.com, April 4, 2025. Accessed 2026-11-03. (primary source · build store)
• University of Delaware. "Elena Delle Donne to be Inducted into Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame (Class of 2026)." udel.edu. Accessed 2026-11-03. (primary source · build store)
• CBS Sports. "Elena Delle Donne Retires: Two-Time WNBA MVP Led Mystics to First Title." April 4, 2025. Accessed 2026-11-03. (build store)

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Record CTL-E-7073 · Combined Graph record U-07945 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 3 sources · 1 mapped relationship.
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Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.

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