Connecticut Sun center Tina Charles has little to prove when it comes to her standing among the greats in WNBA history. She’s already achieved legend status.
There are five games remaining in this lost season for the Sun, with Monday’s game against the Atlanta Dream next up. Charles, a 6-foot-4 center who went to UConn and started her WNBA career with Connecticut in 2010, re-signed with the franchise this year. It wasn’t meant as a valedictory for the 36-year-old. She’s still producing among the best centers in the game.
But, Sun fans should recognize that this could be the end of an era for Charles. Earlier this year, in an interview with ClutchPoints, she acknowledged the idea of retirement.
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In the interview, Charles admitted that the idea of retirement is on her mind, even as a new collective bargaining agreement approaches in 2026, one that could certainly lead to higher salaries for veterans like her.
“I probably think about it every day,” Charles said. “Every day, it’s the losing compounded with going in playing at this age. Playing in the 30-minute range and just how you feel physically. And it’s more games. I feel like when I came in 2010 it was like 31, 32ish games. I think the games we started the season in June. Now you have 44 games.”
Charles has had another great season. She is averaging 16.2 points for the Sun entering Monday’s game. She is also averaging 5.9 rebounds. Connecticut has managed to limit her minutes to 28.4 per game. But, as recently as 2022, she played 33.1 minutes per game for the Phoenix Mercury.
She has reached two more milestones in her illustrious career, both coming in August. The first was against the Chicago Sky a weekend ago. Charles finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds in the 94-84 win over the Sky. It was her 200th career double-double and she became the first player in league history to record 200 double-doubles for her career.
The other came earlier in the month and underscored her longevity in the sport. She moved into 10th place in all-time games played in WNBA history. She has played 468 games, which puts her behind Sue Bird (580), Diana Taurasi (565), Dewanna Bonner (526), Delisha Milton-Jones (499), Tina Thompson (496), Candice Dupree (494), Katie Smith (482), Lindsay Whalen (480) and Swin Cash (479).
Chares is also the WNBA’s all-time leading rebounder with 4,239, and one of only two players with more than4,000 rebounds for her WNBA career. She is also the league’s second all-time leading scorer with 8,312 points. She is behind only Taurasi.
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The former UConn star was the Sun’s first round (No. 1 overall) pick in the 2010 WNBA draft. Her career took her to the New York Liberty (2014-19), the Washington Mystics (2021), the Phoenix Mercury (2022), the Seattle Storm (2023) and the Atlanta Dream (2024) before she returned to the Sun.
Charles will be heading to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame one day after she retires. She was the 2010 WNBA rookie of the year, the 2012 WNBA MVP, an eight-time WNBA all-star, a five-time all-WNBA first-team selection, a four-time all-WNBA second-team selection, a four-time all-WNBA defensive team selection, a four-time WNBA rebounding champion and a two-time WNBA scoring champion.
She was named to the league’s 25th anniversary team in 2021 and won national titles in the Turkish Super League and the Polish National League in international play. She’s also won three Olympic gold medals with the U.S. team in 2012, 2016 and 2020.