Elena Delle Donne

EDD

March 6, 2021

The Basics

Position: Forward

Current Team: Washington Mystics | #11

Draft: 2013 | Delaware | 1st round (2nd overall)

Key Accolades: Rookie of the Year (2013), MVP (2015, 2019), WNBA Champion (2019), All-Star (every year eligible), All-WNBA (frequent), 50-40-90 Club

The Pet: Wrigley Delle Donne

The Down Low

I recognize there is a whole lot to say about Elena, a WNBA champion and two-time MVP, but first I need to show you this video, which I think about on a near daily basis:

Okay, now that we've got EDD long legs out of the way, let's cover what makes her such a champ: she appears to be completely unguardable and won a championship essentially playing as the bionic woman with a face mask, leg brace, and three herniated discs in her back. (That last fact was revealed by Natasha Cloud in my favorite drunken post-championship press conference.)

EDD always credits her success and motivation to her sister, Lizzie. As Elena describes, her older sister was born deaf and blind, with cerebral palsy and autism. She cannot speak, but instead communicates through touch. Because of this, Elena has always sought to remain close to home, declining overseas opportunities and seeking a trade to the nearby Washington Mystics so that she could spend more time with Lizzie in person. Elena has been an advocate for individuals with disabilities, including as an ambassador to the Special Olympics. She also helped design the Nike Air Zoom UNVRS, which can be put on and taken off easily with one hand.

If you want to consume more Delle Donne content, take your pick. Would you like to see her cooking show BakEDD? Would you like to see her cooking show BakEDD where she is dressed as Elsa from Frozen? Do you want to know more about her organizing a charity golf tournament? Building an extended mini-golf course? Creating bizarre quarantine content? The cute couples content with her wife? Her sneaker collection? Basketball academy? Woodworking business? Series of young adult books? Does she have more time in the day than me? I don't even have time to research and write all this down.

Notable Quotables

My sister is the inspiration for all of my choices. She gives me strength. Everyone thinks I carry her, but she's the one carrying me.

[Source]

Know Your Meme

EDD has an official meme on TikTok:

Merch

You can check out Elena's woodworking collection at Deldon Designs.

If you are looking for something a little more basic, she also has T-shirts and hoodies available here.