0:01

i was given all the warnings i

0:03

was told like this isn't the greatest

0:06

way to go about this but i wasn't gonna

0:08

less than a lane is not only has

0:11

one herniated does she has three

0:14

three them ten three though

0:17

it's the twenty nineteen w and be

0:19

a season two time mvp

0:21

a lane adela done and the washington mystics

0:24

are chasing their first ever w

0:26

and be a total it's in a store at

0:28

season for the mystic some della gone but

0:30

her body is testing for before

0:33

this final best of five series

0:35

dell it on suffered those three

0:38

herniated discs plus a knee

0:40

injury

0:51

and then came a broken nose

0:53

so now when she's playing dell

0:55

it on where's one of those protective

0:57

plastic masks it became

0:59

a part of me that for you then

1:01

and i don't know i just felt like

1:04

you know a superhero put in a mass gone

1:06

through that fees and there was something about

1:08

it was like but now my keys to armor so

1:11

with a face mask three herniated

1:13

disks and a knee brace dell

1:16

it on decides to play in game

1:18

five against the connecticut son ignoring

1:21

warnings from the team doctors

1:23

you know you dream of going to a game five

1:25

and winning a championship bet m

1:27

my dreams i didn't realize how it's gonna

1:29

be dealing with excruciating back

1:31

pain and pain down my left leg

1:36

this is in the moment from religion

1:38

of sports and pr x i'm david greene

1:41

each week we go inside the mind

1:43

of an athlete at one of the most pivotal

1:45

moments in their career this week

1:48

w and be a star a lane a dell it

1:50

on and how she put her body

1:52

on the line for the final

1:54

game of the twenty nine t w and be

1:56

a championship game five

2:00

as Connecticut wins the tick. It's

2:02

weird. I almost can't remember

2:05

that game very well. And I'm wondering,

2:08

is that because it was a trauma and I

2:10

was in that much pain? And a lot of times when

2:12

your body is in pain or experiencing a trauma,

2:15

you don't remember much.

2:17

De La Donne, Thomas has

2:19

to be careful already with one

2:20

foul, as De La Donne squeezes

2:22

it in. The

2:25

two-time MVP seeking her first title.

2:28

In the opening minute, even in the warm-ups,

2:31

I was like, OK, I'm feeling a little

2:33

bit better than the last game. So that's

2:35

pretty much all I was thinking, staying positive

2:38

with it. You're moving better.

2:40

I might be able to attack a little bit more than I had

2:42

before.

2:44

Completely different Alaina De La Donne than we saw

2:47

in game three, game four. She got

2:49

closer to what she can do, but she's

2:51

looking pretty spry out

2:53

here, Ryan.

2:54

I was just learning how to move and also

2:57

how to play differently.

3:00

I knew in no way could I play

3:03

the way I'd played all season. I just was dealing

3:05

with too much pain, but I knew I could be out there.

3:07

I could be a leader. I could hit open

3:10

shots and space the floor. So

3:13

Thomas jockeying with De La Donne.

3:16

De La Donne, bodying

3:18

in and finishing.

3:21

She is so physical in

3:23

this game that it's hard to tell how

3:26

much she's actually hurting. Despite how

3:28

well she's playing in third quarter, Connecticut

3:31

starts to pull away with a big lead.

3:34

It was late in the game, and it

3:37

wasn't looking good on the outside, I feel like.

3:40

A 10-2 run for Connecticut

3:43

to 9-point lead. But

3:46

when I would go to our huddles

3:47

and to see the focus and

3:49

the drive from each

3:52

player out there and just how

3:54

locked in everyone was and how we were so

3:56

much in problem-solving mode, it wasn't like

3:58

a uh-oh feel.

4:00

Rebound, Dela Don, some momentum

4:03

brewing for Washington.

4:05

At this point, Elena Dela Don,

4:08

she taps into her reserves, playing

4:11

through all that pain to help the

4:13

Mystics regain the lead.

4:15

Dela Don cutting through two, gets it

4:18

to go on the foul, and who is

4:20

the foul on?

4:21

You get Elena Dela Don a touch because

4:23

she's been

4:23

in attack mode, she comes through. 11-point

4:26

Washington lead. Once

4:29

we got the lead, it was impossible

4:32

for them to take it back. And the way that the building

4:34

was like shaking, the crowd was going nuts,

4:37

it was ours.

4:37

The wait

4:40

is over

4:41

for the very first time,

4:44

the Washington Mystics are

4:46

WNBA champions. Immediately,

4:51

you know, going over, celebrating with my wife,

4:54

and we're both in tears because we knew, you

4:56

know, everything leading up to the moment.

4:58

What it takes, and then in that series playing

5:01

through the pain I was experiencing,

5:04

but thinking like,

5:05

okay, it was worth it. We won.

5:08

Title number one for

5:11

two of this league's great luminaries,

5:14

Elena Dela Don and Mike Thiebaud.

5:17

Thank God. Thank God

5:19

we won. For

5:24

Elena, winning a WNBA

5:26

championship fulfilled a lifelong

5:29

dream. But there was a point early

5:32

on in her career where she completely

5:34

quit the game of basketball, never

5:36

thought she would pick it back up again. As a

5:39

kid, it was the only space that I felt

5:41

like really confident in my body.

5:43

And then soon it became something

5:45

where it was like, who the heck am I outside

5:48

of basketball? I'm more than this.

5:51

Or when we return.

6:03

I got the chance to sit down with

6:06

33-year-old Elena Deladon at the Washington

6:08

Mystics practice facility in

6:11

Washington DC. We were sitting at a table

6:13

together in a conference room but behind

6:15

her through the glass you could see

6:18

the gorgeous court, the practice

6:20

facility where she spends so much time.

6:22

She stands at six

6:24

foot five and she is considered

6:27

one of the best to ever

6:29

play in the WNBA. She's

6:31

a two-time league MVP, six-time

6:34

All-Star for the league. She's also

6:37

an Olympic gold medalist. But those

6:39

accomplishments don't really capture what

6:41

it's like to see her on the court. In 2019

6:44

she made history when she became the only WNBA

6:47

player to join the elite 40-50-90

6:50

club, shooting better than 40% from

6:53

beyond a three-point line, 50% from the field

6:55

and 90% from the foul line. I mean

6:58

that's just crazy. But

7:00

she said that her biggest goal

7:03

was always

7:03

to win a WNBA championship

7:06

and when we sit down to talk I

7:09

had to ask her how

7:10

she played through all of

7:12

that pain. What hurt the most?

7:14

I mean you had a broken nose, you had herniated discs,

7:17

you had a bruised knee right?

7:19

Yeah the the knee, the nose, none of that

7:21

mattered. It was all my back, the

7:23

pain

7:24

that I was experiencing down my leg. Just

7:27

having nerve pain was the part

7:29

that was really tough and then just

7:31

the muscles in my back being so tight

7:33

trying to protect me from moving made

7:36

it all that much harder. Were people telling

7:38

you not to play? Like just looking

7:40

at you and seeing how much pain you were in? You

7:42

know not not to play but just saying like

7:45

are you sure about this and also telling

7:47

me you know what I'm playing

7:50

through and what damage that can do and also

7:53

explaining that like the

7:55

medications I was taking to help

7:58

with the pain could numb. some

8:00

of the damage I was doing. My body

8:02

certainly had to deal with some things afterwards.

8:05

Do you remember a conversation? Like when someone was

8:07

telling you something, like their

8:09

thoughts on whether or not you should be playing? The

8:12

doctors kind of gave

8:14

me the whole run through of

8:17

telling me my options and

8:19

kind of saying like,

8:21

yes, you've done the herniation,

8:23

but they can get bigger.

8:25

Like you can injure yourself more.

8:27

Then also my wife kind of just being like,

8:30

you know, you also have like a life to live

8:32

after this. Like say we have kids

8:35

or say you want to go run around with the dogs.

8:38

Like

8:38

you got to keep that in mind. And she knew

8:40

like she had to say it, but she

8:42

knew what my answer was going to be. It

8:45

was like, I'll be fine. I'll figure

8:47

it out all the time after the season. She knew she wasn't

8:49

going to, you weren't going to listen to her even though she

8:51

was going to say it. I think she just had to like say

8:53

it

8:54

with the pain. I knew that my

8:56

back was worse than, you know, what I was kind

8:58

of letting on. So I knew I probably risked

9:01

and did a little bit to it. And really

9:03

I was only fully honest

9:05

with her about how much pain I was experiencing

9:08

with everyone else. I was trying

9:10

to play it off. I didn't want

9:12

people to worry. Didn't want them to worry. I didn't want

9:14

my teammates to worry that I wasn't ready. Didn't

9:16

want the coaching staff to, you

9:18

know, coach me any differently.

9:20

I wanted things to stay

9:22

the same because I knew to win, things

9:25

had to kind of stay the same. So

9:28

I was really only honest and open with my wife

9:30

about it. So I guess I

9:32

put all my worries on her, but

9:35

that's what your partners are for. Tell

9:38

me how you saw each other after

9:40

the game was over. Like where were you? She was actually celebrating

9:43

with people next to her. And I like poked her

9:45

on the back and was like, hello. Can

9:47

I get a little of this? Yeah, like let's celebrate.

9:50

And right when she like turned around, just we embraced

9:52

in a huge hug and

9:54

we're both just crying. It's like,

9:57

it happened. We did it. relationship

10:01

with Amanda became public, you, you

10:03

said you had decided that you weren't going to hide

10:05

anything. And I just, that word

10:08

hide really stuck with me when I read it

10:10

because I, like, I wonder what, why

10:12

was that even an issue before? And is

10:15

there pressure in the WNBA? Is

10:18

there pressure in the world of sports? Like, did

10:20

you feel pressure to, to hide that your partner

10:22

was a woman? Yeah. I think that's

10:24

something that

10:27

people in our community go through. Like everybody

10:29

has their own process of when they feel

10:31

okay to come out. And

10:34

one of my biggest things is hopefully

10:37

by coming out and being us

10:40

and showing, you know, what love looks like

10:42

in a same sex marriage, that coming out

10:44

process won't happen as

10:46

much. And I even see it now with the youth,

10:48

like they

10:49

don't even blink an eye when I'm like, Hey, and here's

10:51

my wife, Amanda. Like it's not a thought,

10:54

but when I was growing up, I didn't see gay

10:56

people on TV in commercials.

10:59

I wasn't able to read about people

11:02

who were like me who were attracted to the same

11:04

sex. So a lot

11:06

of it was like, if you don't see something, you feel

11:08

like you have to hide what

11:11

you're doing and you feel like you're almost doing something wrong.

11:13

So by being in the WNBA

11:15

and seeing the support from

11:18

people in our community, but

11:20

also allies who were straight,

11:23

like that was huge for me to just see.

11:26

And then obviously in my family,

11:28

like everybody knew that Amanda and I were together,

11:31

but I just wasn't

11:32

ready to publicly do

11:35

it yet.

11:36

And then I also wasn't publicly ready

11:38

to put Amanda out there too. I

11:40

didn't want

11:41

her to have to go through, you know,

11:44

anything or go through scrutiny. But

11:46

it finally became a moment of like

11:49

feeling a little bit like a robot when I was

11:52

out in

11:53

public or like doing interviews and

11:55

things like that. I just felt like I was hiding

11:57

the most important thing in

11:59

my life. my life and it

12:02

just felt right to like

12:04

be open about it and also to think

12:06

what would young Alina have felt if

12:08

she was able to see, you know, someone like

12:10

me who had a wife. It

12:12

would have helped a lot of things make

12:15

sense when I was younger. So that

12:17

was another big reason for doing it.

12:20

So in addition to your wife, who else from

12:22

your family was in the arena? Yeah,

12:24

my whole family was there. My mom, my

12:26

dad, my brother, my

12:29

sister-in-law, my niece. So

12:31

they were all there to celebrate. They came on the

12:33

court later on and I was able to

12:35

embrace all of them. So my

12:38

whole career, my family has been such a big part

12:40

of my career, especially my parents, like things

12:42

they have to sacrifice taking you to AAU

12:45

tournaments

12:45

and you know, driving you all

12:47

over the country. So for

12:49

them to be there and to celebrate in that moment

12:52

is always, you know, so

12:54

important. Do you remember any of them

12:56

saying something to you that stands out? I

12:59

really don't. Everybody was just like

13:01

crying in like in tears

13:04

and just like

13:05

so happy. There really weren't

13:07

words for the moment. It was more of just

13:10

like embracing in the moment

13:12

and sharing in those happy tears with

13:14

each other. So your

13:16

relationship with basketball, I mean, was

13:18

it a matter of I'm tall,

13:20

I can be really good at this sport, it's natural,

13:23

it's obvious and you did it or

13:25

were there moments when it was like, I don't want to do the obvious

13:27

thing just because I'm tall, like there are other sports that I really

13:29

would rather be playing.

13:31

Actually I think the basketball court was

13:33

the only place I felt comfortable because

13:36

my height was such a

13:38

great tool to have. So it was

13:40

finally the one place where being

13:42

tall was a good thing. It

13:44

was positive and it

13:47

helped me to be really successful in the sport.

13:49

So I think that's why I fell in love

13:51

with basketball so much. It was finally

13:52

the one place I could like take a deep

13:54

breath and be proud of who I

13:57

was. So you didn't feel that

13:59

ability? You couldn't feel powerful

14:01

and be comfortable in your own skin and in

14:04

lots of other places. No, and lots of other

14:06

places, I just felt way too big for things.

14:08

Like even in school, my desks weren't big enough.

14:11

Like I always felt like I was crouching in my desk

14:13

or my knees were hitting the top of the table.

14:15

So really any space I was in, I

14:17

just felt

14:18

too big for those spaces

14:21

and uncomfortable.

14:22

It felt like, you know, those

14:24

worlds weren't made for me. And then I got onto

14:26

a basketball court and I was like, ooh, this

14:29

is the space that was made for

14:31

me. Like this can be great.

14:34

The basketball court was the

14:36

only place Elena felt like she

14:39

belonged. And at a young age,

14:41

she started to gain national attention from colleges.

14:44

I left and went to Connecticut and

14:46

realized like, uh-uh, this isn't right right

14:48

now. I gotta figure some things out.

14:51

The most impressive being UConn, the

14:54

school for women's basketball. But

14:56

her decision might surprise you.

14:59

Stay with us.

15:10

You got a scholarship offer to play at

15:12

a powerhouse school. The University of

15:14

Connecticut, right?

15:15

Yeah. My first offer

15:18

though, was from the University of North

15:20

Carolina.

15:21

And it was after, after

15:24

I was in seventh grade. So I was headed into

15:26

eighth grade and received that offer,

15:29

which was like mind blowing

15:31

at the time. Four years before graduating from

15:33

high school, they're offering you, I didn't

15:35

even know, you can sign, you can sign up for a scholarship

15:37

that early.

15:38

I guess at that point in time, yes. My

15:40

God. I think they got me before all

15:43

the rules of high school. So they're able to

15:45

offer me before I got to high school. And

15:47

then when did, when did Connecticut come along? Connecticut,

15:50

I can't even remember, but pretty soon, like

15:52

a lot of my offers came probably

15:54

freshman year, of high school, like

15:57

really early. So I kind of knew right away.

16:00

way that I'd be able to kind of just choose where

16:02

I wanted to go.

16:03

But that's kind of in the path

16:05

of feeling like the decision was

16:07

going to be made for me and I no longer was like

16:10

steering the ship. I felt like I

16:12

was the best player in the country at that

16:14

time ranked number one in my class and

16:17

the best players go to either UConn or

16:19

Tennessee at that time. So I kind

16:21

of felt like

16:21

I only had two choices. And in

16:25

the back of, you know, my head

16:27

and even in my heart, I knew that those two

16:29

choices didn't feel right to me because what

16:32

was most important at that time was still being close

16:34

to home, being near my sister. And

16:37

I just wasn't able to

16:38

kind of figure that out. But you almost went to

16:41

UConn, right? I mean, it was... Oh, I went for

16:43

a little. You were there on campus. I was there

16:45

for a day of summer school.

16:47

And then I went home and quit

16:50

basketball because

16:53

I was like blaming basketball for everything,

16:56

pulling me away from home. I was burning

16:58

out from it because the attention from

17:00

seventh grade on

17:02

was just so much that I no

17:04

longer enjoyed playing the game anymore. So

17:07

once I left Connecticut, I was like, this

17:09

just isn't for me anymore.

17:10

It ran its course. I don't think I want to play

17:12

this game ever again. Wow. How old

17:14

were you at this point? I was going into college,

17:17

so I was going to be a freshman in college

17:19

and I quit

17:20

and went home

17:22

and then decided to go play volleyball

17:24

at the University of Delaware

17:26

because I knew I love sports.

17:29

Sports have always been a part of my life. And

17:32

to go to college and not have

17:34

a team or a sport to play would

17:36

have been really weird for me. So it was like

17:38

a

17:39

tall girl thing. I guess I'll go play the

17:41

other tall girl sport. So

17:44

I started playing volleyball. And

17:47

when did basketball start to creep back

17:50

in? Because it's amazing to sit here listening

17:52

to you say that you were ready to give it all

17:54

up. I

17:56

would say once

17:58

the volleyball season ended, which is over.

17:59

over end of fall. And

18:02

then I had nothing to do for a little bit.

18:04

And then basketball season started,

18:07

and I'm seeing some games on TV. I'm

18:09

even seeing the University of Delaware players

18:11

around. And I

18:14

think because I wasn't so

18:16

just tangled up in volleyball

18:18

and was able to have a little bit of time just kind

18:20

of to myself not playing basketball,

18:23

that's when it gave me the space to miss it and

18:25

realize,

18:26

I don't know if I needed to be so final with it.

18:29

Maybe I do want to play again. Were

18:31

you feeling like you were a prisoner to basketball?

18:34

I mean, it sounds like it was like taking you away from

18:36

your family, you said, taking you away from home.

18:38

It almost sounds like you didn't feel like you were,

18:40

you were in control, like basketball was running your

18:42

life and you needed to show yourself that you could

18:45

take a break from it. Yeah, at some point, I

18:48

think I felt that way.

18:50

Like basketball was running everything.

18:52

And the crazy thing is as a kid,

18:54

it was the only

18:55

space that I felt like really confident

18:57

in my body. And then

18:59

soon it became something where it was like, who

19:02

the heck am I outside of basketball? Like

19:04

what,

19:06

what am I like, what are my likes in

19:08

this world? What are other hobbies? Like I felt like

19:10

I became just Elena the basketball

19:13

player,

19:13

which helped shield me from the

19:15

bullying of being tall, but then

19:18

shaped me into something where it was like, hold

19:20

on, I'm more than this. And

19:22

college was the time where I was able to like

19:25

really

19:26

see who I am and discover other

19:28

things that I love to do. So I

19:30

think it was just a big

19:31

growing moment for me. And

19:33

Delaware also meant you were really close to home. Yes,

19:36

so I was able to like spread my wings, but still

19:38

be 20 to 30 minutes from home.

19:41

And I know you talked about your sister, Lizzie. She

19:45

has cerebral palsy and

19:47

was born blind and deaf. Is that? Yes. And

19:50

she sounds like she is so,

19:53

so important to you and your life

19:55

and that pool to be home. Exactly. She's

19:57

always the pool to be close to home.

20:00

Because, you know, she's deaf,

20:02

she's blind, she has

20:04

intellectual disabilities. So in order

20:06

to interact with her, you truly have to be

20:08

in a room with her because that's

20:10

how we communicate through hand-over-hand

20:13

sign language or hugging or

20:15

giggling or tickling each other. So

20:17

I don't think I realized the

20:20

weight of that and the weight

20:22

of like

20:23

needing to be near her because that's

20:26

the only way you can truly interact. And

20:28

that's the only way she knows you're there until

20:30

I left and

20:33

went to Connecticut and realized like, uh-uh,

20:35

this isn't right right now.

20:37

I got to figure some things out.

20:39

What is most important in that relationship

20:41

for you? I'm

20:44

not sure if I could say there's one thing that's most

20:46

important in that relationship.

20:48

I do feel like I've learned

20:51

by far the most lessons in life

20:54

and the most about life through her and

20:57

it's crazy to think like

20:59

I've learned by far the most lessons from her and she's

21:01

never spoken a word to me. So I think those

21:04

are things to keep like in perspective about

21:06

humans and interactions. Like it doesn't

21:09

always have to be words. A lot of times it

21:11

can be gestures or just being there.

21:13

So I

21:15

can't say like what

21:17

the most important part of our relationship, but

21:20

I just try to be the best little sister

21:22

I can to her and she's certainly

21:24

the best big sister she can to me.

21:27

What is time with her like if you were to describe

21:29

it to us? Time with her slows down.

21:32

Like everything kind of goes

21:34

away. It's almost like, uh,

21:37

when you're in the zone in your sport

21:39

and like everything just starts

21:41

flowing and happening at the greatest

21:44

level possible

21:45

and like all the noise goes away. Even

21:48

the people in the stands, like you don't see

21:50

them anymore. So like

21:51

with her, it feels that way. Like

21:53

just us together

21:56

interacting time slows down. When

21:59

you get her to like.

21:59

belly chuckle giggle that's

22:02

like hitting the greatest shot

22:03

of your career. So I guess

22:05

that's the best way I can kind of describe

22:08

it in sports terms. How do you

22:10

interact with her?

22:11

Just by being in a room with her, sitting next

22:13

to her, uh, letting her grab

22:16

my arm, tickling her arm, um,

22:18

you know, rubbing her back,

22:20

feeding her. She loves to

22:22

eat. I mean, don't we all, but

22:25

if, if you think about not having

22:27

your other senses, like how important

22:29

eating would be to you is so

22:32

big. And then

22:33

doing things with her that she loves to do. Like

22:35

she loves to ride around in a golf cart. So just

22:38

driving her around in a golf cart, uh,

22:40

taking her swimming. She loves to just float

22:43

in a hot tub.

22:44

So trying to do all the things she enjoys

22:47

doing and making her laugh at the

22:49

same time. I can't, I

22:51

can't get my mind off you saying that you

22:53

learn life lessons from

22:56

her and it's not, it's not spoken.

22:58

It's not communicated. Like I'm so curious

23:00

about that. What, what is, what lessons has

23:03

she taught

23:04

you? She's shown

23:06

a lot about like when

23:09

expectations and things are put on

23:11

you. Like I think sometimes you

23:13

perform to those or you

23:17

kind of put a ceiling on yourself because that's

23:19

what you, all you think you can attain. So for

23:21

example, when she was first

23:23

born, doctors said she would never be able

23:25

to lift her head up. Um, she would never

23:28

be out of a wheelchair, definitely

23:30

never walk.

23:31

And she's done all those things and

23:33

more. Um, or even

23:36

after a surgery, like she recovers

23:38

so much faster than the average

23:41

human

23:42

because she doesn't feel bad for herself. She doesn't

23:44

pity

23:44

herself or think,

23:46

Oh, I just had surgery. I should lay

23:48

here for a few more days. Like none of

23:50

that, she doesn't have those thoughts and

23:52

to see what she can attain because

23:55

she doesn't have like pity or doesn't

23:57

have a doctor,

23:58

doesn't hear the doctor saying.

23:59

you'll never walk. Like her

24:02

ceiling is endless. She doesn't have one. So

24:04

I think that's something I've always learned

24:06

from her. Like don't allow others

24:08

to

24:09

put you in a box. Like you can really be

24:11

anything. Was her inspiration

24:14

with you when you were going through the injuries and thinking about

24:16

whether to play in game five and yeah,

24:18

for sure. Because there's

24:20

so many things she has to overcome in

24:22

just a day, you know, to

24:24

be able to get out of bed and to still put

24:26

a big smile on or to be able to giggle

24:29

like,

24:29

and she doesn't have a crowd cheering for her

24:31

to do it. Like she doesn't have

24:34

articles written about her. She

24:36

just does it because that's

24:38

her life and that's how she pushes

24:40

through. I mean, it's tough to

24:42

ignore the sacrifices that you've made for your

24:45

sister. I mean, you don't

24:47

play abroad that much. I

24:49

mean, a lot of other players in

24:51

the league make

24:52

a boatload of money by going abroad when the

24:54

season's not going. Like it, what is, how

24:57

do you sort of think about that and find

24:59

a balance

24:59

there? The thing is, I don't think it's not

25:01

sacrifices because truly she'd be okay

25:04

if I went. Like it's

25:07

more what she does for me and

25:09

I need to be near her. Like she's able

25:12

to persevere no matter what. She's got incredible

25:15

people and other family members

25:17

of mine who,

25:18

you know, take care of her. So

25:20

she'd be all right if I left and went overseas.

25:22

It's more me like

25:23

needing to be near her. She's my

25:25

perspective. She's

25:27

showed me that there's more

25:29

in life than money or

25:31

sports. So I realize,

25:34

you know, time is precious and the moments

25:36

in my off season when I get to be with her, like

25:38

that's,

25:39

you can't put a price on that. So

25:42

it's

25:42

kind of just been a decision I made from

25:45

that day. I came back from UConn

25:47

and knew what

25:48

was most important. I'm going to think

25:50

about you talking about this a lot. I feel

25:52

like it's so easy to either

25:55

look past people with special

25:58

needs like that or to feel like

26:00

it's a one-way relationship and I am just

26:02

put on this earth to help you. And

26:05

it's really inspiring how you

26:08

get as much from the relationship. It

26:10

sounds like we're even more than you feel like she gets

26:12

from you.

26:13

Yeah, I really do feel that way. And that's

26:15

what I try to tell people when

26:17

sometimes, like a lot of times people are

26:20

like, I just don't know how to interact with someone with

26:22

special needs or

26:23

Lizzie, for example, it's like, how do I even

26:25

say hello to her? Like, I don't know what to

26:28

do. And it's like, just go be

26:30

with her. Like, go be in her presence and things

26:32

will just happen. It'll flow. Maybe she'll

26:35

pull your head in and sniff your head or lick

26:37

your forehead to taste, you

26:39

know, I don't know what she's doing,

26:42

but I think that's how she can assess, you

26:44

know, who's around her. Is this someone

26:46

new? Is this

26:47

someone who's been around forever? But

26:50

like, just go

26:52

and approach that person and

26:54

be with them. And I promise you'll

26:57

probably end up getting more out of the situation.

27:00

But that's what I've always learned from Lizzie and

27:02

her peers. I want to get to the now. I

27:05

mean, you've just gone through a

27:07

couple of years of very

27:09

little basketball. I mean, because of COVID

27:11

and your history of Lyme disease

27:14

and being super careful and then back surgery.

27:16

Yeah. I mean, how hard was that to not be

27:19

on the court for a really long time after

27:21

winning a title?

27:21

Yeah, it was definitely really tough,

27:24

especially after winning a title. You want to come back,

27:26

you want to

27:27

go for it again.

27:28

But for me, I think

27:30

the lessons I have learned prior in life

27:32

of not just being a lane of the basketball

27:35

player and continuing to do other things and

27:37

other passions helped me get through

27:39

these past

27:40

a little bit over two years. And I was

27:43

able to dive a little bit more into my different

27:45

businesses and my woodworking

27:47

and my foundation. So there

27:49

were other things to kind of keep busy

27:51

with.

27:52

And

27:54

gratefully, too, Amanda and I

27:56

became

27:57

even more of a team, like diving into these

27:59

businesses. and doing different things. So

28:02

I was okay. And then I was

28:04

still coming here, working, trying to get myself

28:06

back, still around my teammates, even when I wasn't

28:09

playing. So that kind of helped me and

28:11

kept me going too.

28:12

You talk so much about this needing

28:15

to show that you don't need the

28:17

sport all the time. I mean,

28:20

is there something we should all take from that or

28:22

that we should try and understand as fans,

28:24

like that you all need to not be

28:26

a prisoner to this sport that

28:29

you're

28:30

so great at? I

28:32

think everybody can take that in life.

28:35

Like, you do your job and your

28:38

job is a huge part of your life, like

28:40

Monday through Friday, generally, you're gonna wake

28:43

up and have to do your job. But like,

28:45

what else is there in life? I don't think we're just

28:47

put on this world to wake up, go

28:49

to work and then

28:51

retire and it's over. Like, I think

28:53

we have to continue to be multifaceted

28:56

people, continuing to challenge ourselves

28:58

and continuing to grow in

28:59

different areas. And for me, the

29:01

burnout happened at a young age that

29:03

gave me that perspective, which

29:06

I'm grateful for at this time, as hard as it

29:08

was going through that. Like, it's

29:10

shaped my career and who I am,

29:13

and even will

29:14

shape me post-basketball

29:16

career. Early burnouts are good.

29:18

Early burnouts are great learning lessons.

29:22

Burnout early, that's the quote. So

29:25

we talked about the

29:27

moment and you said it was the, I

29:29

mean, I don't have to come here saying that was a big moment.

29:32

It sounds like winning the championship was huge and a dream,

29:34

as you said. I mean, like if

29:36

you look a year from now,

29:38

do you still want that moment to define

29:40

your career and be the thing you hold on to?

29:42

Or are there other moments

29:45

that you

29:46

wanna create to start defining your life

29:48

in different ways? Yeah, and I mean, that

29:51

moment will always be huge, especially

29:53

because of the challenge and test it put on my body

29:55

and mind to

29:57

get back. Like, to be able

29:59

to.

29:59

show that I have that strength and ability

30:02

to persevere when like

30:05

it almost looked like

30:06

this career is not it anymore. Like your

30:08

body just can't do it.

30:10

That's truly the moment. It's

30:12

not even the winning of the championship.

30:14

It's like what

30:15

I've gone through now to even be back and

30:17

playing.

30:18

But you know, I

30:21

think there will certainly be more moments and

30:23

you

30:24

got to continue to grow and learn

30:26

from the new moments. But I

30:28

can kind of always look back at this

30:30

one and be like, whatever I'm facing, I'll

30:32

be able to get through it. I've got

30:35

the people in my corner I need and I

30:38

have the will to do it. So

30:40

as you think of legacy a little

30:42

bit when you eventually leave the WNBA,

30:45

like what

30:47

legacy do you want? Like if you look at the league

30:49

and say, I am so happy

30:52

that I helped the league do X

30:54

in my time there, what would the X be?

30:56

Yeah, when I came into the league,

30:59

I really wanted it to be

31:01

better when I left.

31:03

And when I came into the league, too, it was

31:05

very rare that a player does not go overseas.

31:08

Like I wanted to show that we can

31:10

be marketed here and we

31:12

can find a way where this is

31:14

just our

31:16

career. Like we don't have to go overseas. So

31:18

I see things changing,

31:20

like especially in the past few years, like things

31:23

are moving

31:23

forward. So hopefully,

31:25

when I leave this game, like the young ones coming

31:27

up will get paid what they deserve and be

31:29

able to play in this league and that be

31:31

it, like not have to go overseas anymore.

31:34

And then hopefully

31:35

I get remembered as one of the greatest to do

31:37

it.

31:38

Does your sister Lizzie know that you're one of the greatest

31:41

to do this? She doesn't even know I play

31:43

basketball, which is so

31:45

great about her. Like she just knows

31:48

that I am one of her people

31:51

that have been there that make her laugh

31:53

that feed her her favorite foods that

31:56

take her on her favorite golf cart rides.

31:58

And that's all I am

31:59

to Lizzie. She has,

32:00

she doesn't know, you know, that I'm out

32:03

here playing basketball.

32:05

I'm just one of her people. And

32:07

what's that like for you emotionally? I mean, this is obviously

32:09

like so important

32:12

in your life and she's so important in your life, but

32:14

you can't make that connection. I

32:16

love it. It just puts things

32:19

in perspective that

32:20

we don't always have to understand everything

32:23

or have words for everything, but you

32:25

can feel something and know the

32:27

weight

32:28

it carries and

32:29

what influence it has on your life. And

32:32

Lizzie's influence on my life has

32:34

been

32:35

massive. Like you really can't even

32:38

describe it. So

32:39

yeah, when people, you know, want

32:41

that answer of like,

32:42

what's that relationship like? Does she know

32:45

you're this? Does she know you're that? I'm like, nope, but

32:48

I'm telling you like, she's the greatest gift

32:50

that our family has ever received and

32:52

she has

32:52

done so much for us. And again,

32:55

it just always comes back to perspective.

32:57

How did you celebrate with

32:59

her after the championship?

33:02

Like when did you first see her? I

33:04

just went home and saw her and

33:06

did our usual thing. Like nothing was really

33:09

different. You know, there's been moments where

33:11

like when I won the Olympics,

33:12

I like let her hold the medal,

33:14

but like she didn't really

33:16

care. Like she might've thrown it actually.

33:19

Like it was cold, heavy, didn't smell great.

33:22

So like that's what keeps so much of my

33:24

life in perspective, like

33:26

she's holding a gold medal and she might throw that thing

33:28

across the room. Like you gotta be careful because

33:31

it doesn't do anything for her. Like it doesn't

33:33

feel great. It doesn't smell good.

33:36

So again, like winning

33:38

that championship, it's awesome. It's something

33:40

that I'll take for the rest of my life. But in

33:43

her world, that's whatever.

33:45

It's like, what's cooking for dinner tonight? What can I

33:47

smell in the oven?

33:49

That really does put things in perspective in some way.

33:52

For sure, for sure. It's huge

33:55

to have

33:56

someone in your life that can give you that much perspective.

33:59

Alaina, thank you. Thank

34:01

you so much. That

34:04

was WNBA champion Alaina

34:06

Dela Don. I'm David Green, and

34:08

we really appreciate you listening. Be sure

34:10

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34:18

That's Fearless underscore Green

34:20

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34:25

In the Moment is produced by Sarah McCrory,

34:27

sound design and mixing by Jocelyn Gonzalez

34:30

at PRX Productions. Brit Khan is our talent

34:32

booker. Our production manager

34:34

is Estella Rivas Bryant. Story

34:37

research was done by Joe Levin and Ryan Henrehan. Kevin

34:40

Sullivan edited this episode and is the head

34:42

of talk. Gotham Chopra, Amit Sankaran,

34:44

and Adam Schlossman are our executive producers.

34:47

Fearless Media is our consulting producer.

34:50

And special thanks to Teresa Tran. In

34:52

the Moment is a production of Religion of Sports

34:54

and PRX. I'm

34:55

David Green, and we will be

34:57

back next week.