Former league MVP and three-time Olympic gold medalist Tina Charles introduced her retirement from basketball on Tuesday after a 14-season WNBA profession.
Charles, 37, shared the information in a social media publish two days earlier than the WNBA suggestions off its thirtieth season on Friday. She finishes because the league’s profession chief in rebounds (4,262), area targets (3,364), and video games performed, and she or he ranks second on the all-time scoring listing with 8,396 factors, behind solely Diana Taurasi.
„At the moment, I formally announce my retirement from basketball,“ Charles wrote on X.
It was all a dream.. pic.twitter.com/YtComVxYYN
— Tina Charles (@tinacharles31) Might 5, 2026
Connecticut Solar Legend
Chosen by the Connecticut Solar with the No. 1 general choose of the 2010 WNBA Draft out of UConn, Charles was a unanimous Rookie of the Yr and gained league MVP two seasons later after main the WNBA in rebounding for a 3rd straight 12 months. She returned to Connecticut in free company in 2025 for her first season again with the franchise since 2013. She led the crew in scoring at 16.3 factors per recreation and averaged 5.8 rebounds per recreation over 42 begins because the Solar went 11-33.
The Solar launched an announcement following the information.
„Connecticut will at all times be house for Tina Charles, and she’s going to endlessly be a part of the muse on which our franchise stands. We thank Tina for every part she has given to the Connecticut Solar and to the sport of basketball. Her legacy right here is everlasting, and her affect shall be felt for generations to come back.
„As soon as a Solar, at all times a Solar.”
In 2025, Charles set a Solar single-season franchise scoring file with 700 factors and recorded her 1,000th profession help on July 28. Moreover, she turned the WNBA’s all-time chief in area targets made, offensive rebounds, and video games performed.
Charles was an eight-time All-Star and earned 9 All-WNBA choices, 4 All-Defensive Workforce nods, 4 rebounding titles, and two scoring crowns. In 2021, Charles was named to the WNBA’s twenty fifth Anniversary Workforce.
The lone accolade that eluded her was a WNBA championship. Charles by no means reached the WNBA Finals throughout stops with the Solar, New York Liberty, Washington Mystics, Phoenix Mercury, Seattle Storm, and Atlanta Dream.
Internationally, Charles helped america to Olympic gold in 2012, 2016, and 2020, together with three FIBA World Cup titles. At UConn, she joined Maya Moore to win back-to-back nationwide championships in 2009 and 2010.
„She is a shining instance of the way you do it,“ stated Sparks star Nneka Ogwumike. „She was constantly performing each single a type of years…. We positively have to throw roses at her feed.“
Influence Far Past the Courtroom
In her assertion, Charles described feeling at peace with the choice and framed it as making room for the subsequent wave of gamers to step into the league.
Along with her third area objective of the sport, Tina Charles formally passes Diana Taurasi for probably the most area targets in WNBA historical past 3,342! pic.twitter.com/lDSJ7d5Q1i
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) September 4, 2025
„In some unspecified time in the future, it’s a must to edit your life,“ she wrote. „That is not failure, that is readability.“
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert issued an announcement Tuesday recognizing Charles‘ on-court résumé and her neighborhood work via her Hopey’s Coronary heart Basis, which has positioned greater than 500 automated exterior defibrillators in colleges and neighborhood organizations in honor of her late aunt, Maureen „Hopey“ Vaz. Charles acquired the Daybreak Staley Group Management Award for the second time in 2025.
„Tina’s affect on the sport shall be felt for generations to come back,“ Engelbert stated.
A Queens native, Charles entered unrestricted free company this offseason and went unsigned as coaching camps opened across the league.
