Elena Delle Donne is ready to play again.
The two-time WNBA MVP has only been able to play three games the last two seasons because of back issues that required surgery. There was also the potential for complications if she got the coronavirus.
“I’ll be ready. I feel phenomenal. I have been going to work every single day,” Delle Donne said on a media Zoom on Tuesday. “Working on my movements, getting so much stronger on the court. I feel like I’m moving again like my younger self. But even better and more efficient. I’m so excited to get this season started; we’ve got an awesome bunch.”
Delle Donne, who played through three herniated discs when the Washington Mystics won the 2019 championship, said she hasn’t been in pain for “months.”
“This has been like the rebirth of me for so many reasons,” Delle Donne said. “There were so many moments where it was like, ‘This might be it.’ For me to be able to find a new way, and a new push and to feel so great now is something that is so exciting, and I find so much joy in it every day.”
Delle Donne will participate in the USA Basketball women’s national team training camp this week in Washington, but won’t play in the FIBA World Cup qualifying tournament next weekend. Mystics coach Mike Thibault will be one of the court coaches at the training camp.
Thibault had a busy day on Tuesday, signing free agent Elizabeth Williams as well as bringing back Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, Myisha Hines-Allen and Tianna Hawkins.
Signing Williams will help strengthen the Mystics defense a year after the team went 12-20 and barely missed the playoffs. Washington also won the draft lottery and has the first pick in the upcoming draft.
“I think we have a chance to become one of the premier defensive teams in the league,” Thibault said. “We like where we’re heading in that regard.”
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