My Shot

by Elena Delle Donne

  In my lifelong quest for balance, I’ve always tried as hard as possible to be gracious. Sure, I knew that my announcement that I was prepared to leave the Sky would cause drama, but I didn’t want the way I said it to be harsh or sudden. I needed to be measured and thankful, not provocative. After all, if I sounded cool, that’s how I’d surely feel. Right?

  The truth was that I did. I even felt relaxed, and I decided to leave town for Christmas. Amanda and I went to Disney World and spent a fantastic few days riding rides, stuffing our faces, and wandering through the parks, feeling a million miles away from whatever was going to happen in my future. When we left Florida, we flew to my parents’ place, where we enjoyed a massive Christmas feast with my family. We spent days lounging in front of the fire, pulling together details for our wedding, and dreaming of a new life in 2017.

  “Whatever happens,” Amanda said, “we’ll do it together. We’re here for each other no matter what.”

  I’d made it clear throughout my career how important home was to me. I didn’t do it only by going back to Delaware every off-season, or by keeping an apartment near my parents’ house. I’d also begun to build a real infrastructure in Wilmington to do this. I’d started a foundation that would, in part, benefit special-needs kids in the area. I’d hinted to my agent that if the Washington Mystics made me an offer, I’d be thrilled. DC was just over an hour away by car or train, so if I settled on them, I wouldn’t just feel at home, I’d practically be there.

  In mid-January, I headed to Shanxi, China, to play for their team in the Chinese Basketball Association play-offs. I can’t just be sitting around waiting for a deal to come together, I realized, so I may as well go play overseas for the first time ever. Unfortunately, my Lyme disease symptoms flared up, and I announced that I was leaving China just a few days after I got there.

  Part of me worried that I’d gotten sick because of stress. But I knew there was nothing I could do. I told myself to stay balanced, hope for a great outcome, and trust that my agent would negotiate for the best deal possible back home in the States.

  Soon it looked increasingly like that deal was going to be with Washington. Since I’d be what they call a “sign and trade,” Washington had made a terrific offer to the Chicago Sky, and the Sky was inclined to accept it. Pending a few final details, I was delighted to make the move.

  • • •

  On February 1, 2017, the Washington Mystics announced that they were trading two of their players and their first-round draft pick in order to acquire me.

  “I’m worth three players?” I joked. “Seriously? Does that mean I have to play three times as hard?”

  All kidding aside, I might have to. While the Mystics had a terrific coaching staff, including head coach and general manager Mike Thibault, plus amazing record-setting players like Emma Meesseman, they’d won only one play-off series in their nineteen-year history. And that was in 2002! But they’d recently made a few major changes, and I was confident that those shifts would help the team turn around. The owners had just added Kristi Toliver from the championship-winning Los Angeles Sparks, plus re-signed their star guard, Tayler Hill. Making the two of them and me starters would balance out their lineup so that everyone on the court would be a top player. I couldn’t wait to join these women.

  Most important, the entire coaching and administrative staff were more optimistic than any team I’d been a part of in my life. In the first minute of his press conference announcing that I’d be joining the Mystics, Coach Thibault didn’t say we’d be taking baby steps to have a winning season, or that maybe we’d turn things around in a few years. He set his goal sky-high, saying right away that he wanted to seize a championship as soon as possible.

  I like that confidence. I don’t want growing pains anymore. I’m ready to be bold, and looking forward to the future, I’m determined we’ll win. Rebuilding a team from the ground up is an opportunity I can’t wait to tackle, and taking home the WNBA Championship trophy is a goal I can’t wait to reach.

  It will take balance, hard work, positivity, and knowing that whatever life throws my way, I’m ready to meet it. I’ll demand excellence in my life, and I know, without a doubt, I’ll make it happen.

  Afterword

  I had a pretty strong feeling that 2017 was going to be the most exciting year of my life, and I was right. I had recently moved to a new apartment outside of DC; I won my first preseason game with the Mystics; and in November, Amanda and I got married!

  Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever been so busy, but my whole crazy up-and-down life has taught me how to balance, so I’m handling it—most of the time. Just like any normal person, sometimes I’m so stressed out or overwhelmed that I break down in tears, hide under the covers, or just want to run away, but I know the feeling will pass. I always tell myself: This is nothing. You’ve been through worse. Just keep calm and do your best to juggle it all.

  Being closer to home has been so nice, and I feel like I’m strengthening my bond with Lizzie all over again. Living apart from her has always been hard, but it was doubly so when I was in Chicago. I went home less because I traveled so much already and because hopping on a flight for a one- or two-day trip just wasn’t practical. Now I can drive two hours or take a train—and if you know anything about DC traffic, you know that’s usually a lot faster!—and I’m back home in Delaware. She and I can hang out on her couch, holding hands or just sitting in silence, for as long as we want.

  I can tell already that Lizzie’s happier. She has always been such a joyful person, but now she’s smiling even more. She seems more at peace. When she squeezes my hand on one of our walks, I can feel how much it means to her that I’m by her side. All Lizzie wants to do is give back to me—or anyone she loves—and that kind of unselfishness is something I want to mirror in my own life.

  It’s easy to forget to be giving. Too many of us are so busy studying, working, running from one place to another, doing activities, staring into our phones, or collapsing onto our couches to watch TV at the end of the day that we often feel we don’t have time to help another person. Worse, we often forget how precious—and endangered—the world we live in is. We pollute, we don’t recycle, we don’t volunteer, and we spend our money rather than giving it to someone who needs it more than we do.

  Lizzie has never taken more than she can give. With every smile, hug, and touch, she is sending love out into the world, and she has taught me that you have to be a positive influence on the world and those around you. I’m striving to do that in everything I do.

  A few years ago Amanda, our friend Megan, and I began a custom furniture business. Megan had always been into woodworking, but she was making only decorative pieces like wall art. I loved her stuff, and one day a light bulb went off in my head.

  We can start a business! Together we’re now building coffee and dining tables, sideboards, and art, and even making cutting boards and cheese boards. We sell them on my website, and we do everything in our spare time (ha!), but I can’t describe how wonderful it all feels. Not only does crafting and building shut off all the crazy chatter in my head, but I love that our products prove that great furniture doesn’t have to be mass-produced overseas, like most companies do. It can be a homemade labor of love, from a tiny business like ours. We don’t overcharge for our products, and hopefully soon we’ll be hiring people to help us out. In our small way, we’re giving back.

  I gave back at my and Amanda’s wedding, too—an event that could have easily been frivolous and wasteful if I had wanted it to be.

  After Amanda and I announced our engagement, the wedding website The Knot chose us as their “Dream Couple.” We were the first same-sex couple they’d ever picked, and they committed to featuring our wedding online and in media in exchange for us using their services and helping to promote them. We didn’t partner with them out of vanity, though. Trust me, getting more media was not what Amanda and I were looking for.

  We want people to know that your weddin
g can be a way to donate back to causes that are important to you. We didn’t accept gifts at our wedding, but instead we asked guests to give to the Elena Delle Donne Foundation, which benefits Lyme disease research and special-needs individuals. The Knot publicized my foundation, so just by getting married and working with them, I helped to raise awareness for my favorite causes.

  Amanda and I also partnered with a wedding planner who used as many recycled or reused items as possible, plus created minimal waste, so that we reduced our carbon footprint. I wanted our guests to have a blast, but I didn’t want it to be at the expense of our precious natural resources. We don’t have much time on this earth, so we all need to work together to protect it.

  2017 was a year of change, but it was all good. I can’t wait for what comes next. I used to be scared that if I did too much, too fast, I’d either lose sight of what was driving me or I’d burn out entirely. I don’t feel that way anymore. I’ve learned to listen to myself, trust others, work as part of a team, pursue realistic goals while still dreaming big, and learn how to balance. If I do all of those things, tackling big changes feels like an opportunity rather than a challenge.

  I hope this book has helped you find ways to do the same. If there’s anything I wish for you, it’s that you’ll know that if you make mistakes or can’t accomplish something, it’s not the end of the world. When I left UConn, I thought basketball was over for me. But here I am, not even thirty, and I’ve won an Olympic gold medal and risen to the top of the WNBA. Life has unfolded for me in ways I never would have expected, and I know it will do the same in the future—for me and for you.

  Always demand excellence. Chances are, you’ll get it.

  Acknowledgments

  I have a team of people that I would like to thank, and I fully recognize that I would not be where I am today without the support of my family and friends behind me.

  Amanda, my wife and my best friend, you have given up and sacrificed so much to help me better my career (even being my off-season workout partner). Words cannot express how much you mean to me, and I am so excited that you are with me for life. We are a pretty unstoppable team.

  Special thanks to my incredible parents, who have been with me since day one. Mom, thank you for being extremely honest, absolutely hilarious, and my ultimate role model for what strength looks like. The thankless tasks that you have done day in and day out to support me have never gone unnoticed. I was and still am always watching your lead and am in awe of you.

  Dad, thank you for driving me all the way to Pennsylvania twice a week, attending every AAU tournament, and still traveling to lots of my WNBA games. You are my biggest fan. And by the way, thanks for teaching me how to shoot a basketball—it’s been pretty helpful in my professional career (Dr. Evil hand motion <3).

  To my older sister, Lizzie, thank you for helping me keep everything in perspective. You remind me that there is so much more to life and that joys can come from anywhere; even something as simple as the wind or a perfectly cooked rib eye. You are the greatest gift to our family.

  Thanks to my big brother, Gene, for being able to make me laugh, especially through the lows, and for being my biggest cheerleader. My love of the game started because of you. Playing minny ball until we dropped, going to brutal workouts together; any goal seemed attainable with you by my side. Jennifer, thank you for keeping me trendy and bringing me one of the greatest joys of my life, Gia. To Gia, thank you for bringing so much light into our family and for being the outlet from basketball that I need every once in a while. You are constantly motivating me to be a better role model. Please never stop calling me Ewena.

  Aunt Jan and Aunt Jill, thanks for providing me with comedic relief and constant support during this entire journey. I hope I can be half the aunt to Gia that you have both been to me. My uncles, thank you for trying to tame big Ern through games and still following so closely throughout my career. Your encouraging texts and words mean so much to me.

  Dave, my grandfather/uncle/brother/playmate. “Man Greens . . . you’re good lookin.” My constant one-on-one buddy and arm tickler, thanks for letting me start my career as an author in your workout books. The days of knee football prepared me for anything I’d ever see in the pros.

  Kim, the best babysitter a girl could ever ask for. A.k.a. Kimothy Kathedral. Thank you for putting up with watching the same movie fifty times in a row (Dunston Checks In) and for being my true childhood best friend. God blessed us with two angels when he gave us Lizzie and also sent you into our lives.

  To my trainer, John Noonan, thank you for being more than a trainer, and for being my friend. You are always able to read exactly what I need at the right time, whether it is a crazy workout or just going to P.F. Chang’s.

  Wrigley, my greatest friend and Greatest Dane. Thanks for being my rock in Chicago and for attacking me with love every time I come home. Rasta, thanks for being the edge and sass in our home and for being the only one in our house who can keep Amanda in check.

  Thank you, Meghan, for being a goofball with me in college, for making me laugh until I cried, for being my secret keeper and my sounding board for everything. And to Marge, when Meghan was boring, thank you for taking over.

  Tamika Catchings, thank you for being the best role model I could look up to the second I got into the league. By watching you, it made me better. I will never forget the first time I played against you and you sent a forearm straight to my chest. It was a solid welcome to the WNBA. You were a permanent reminder that I needed to get stronger.

  To Jacki Gemelos, my MVP season would not have happened without you by my side.

  Erin Kane and Alyssa Romano, thank you for helping me discover myself and for helping me find my voice. This wouldn’t have happened without the greatest team behind me.

  Sarah Durand, you are a rock star. Thank you.

  Thanks to Octagon literary agent Jennifer Keene for all her great work on this project. Thanks to the all-stars at Simon & Schuster, including Liz Kossnar.

  Thank you all.

  About the Author

  ELENA DELLE DONNE has been a professional women’s basketball player since 2013, when she was selected by the Chicago Sky second overall in the WNBA draft. She was the 2015 WNBA MVP and won a gold medal with the USA’s women’s basketball team in the 2016 Olympics. She is the global ambassador for the Special Olympics and became the first national ambassador for the Global Lyme Alliance. Elena also plays host to De11e Donne Academy, a basketball camp that runs throughout the year, where she mentors and coaches girls ages seven to eighteen. She now plays for the Washington Mystics.

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  ALSO BY ELENA DELLE DONNE

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  Text copyright © 2018 by Elena Delle Donne

  Jacket photograph copyright © 2018 by Ned Dishman/National Basketball Association/Getty Images

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  Book design by Krista Vossen

  The text for this book was set in Minion Pro.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Donne, Elena Delle, author. | Durand, Sarah, aut
hor.

  Title: My shot : balancing it all and standing tall / Elena Delle Donne, with Sarah Durand.

  Description: First Edition. | New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, [2018] | Audience: Ages: 12 up. | Audience: Grades: 7 to 8.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2017027207|

  ISBN 9781534412286 (Hardcover) | ISBN 9781534412309 (eBook)

  Subjects: LCSH: Donne, Elena Delle,—Juvenile literature. | Women basketball players—United States—Biography—Juvenile literature. | Women’s National Basketball Association—History—Juvenile literature.

  Classification: LCC GV884.D65 D66 2018 | DDC 796.323092 [B]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017027207