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\n Washington Mystics center Tina Charles (31) in action during a WNBA basketball game, Saturday, May 15, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Daniel Kucin Jr.)(AP\/Daniel Kucin Jr.)<\/p>\n
Charles was the No. 1 pick by the Connecticut Sun in 2010 after helping the UConn Huskies win consecutive NCAA championships. She played in New York, Washington, Phoenix, Seattle and Atlanta.<\/p>\n
\n Washington Mystics center Tina Charles (31) in action during a WNBA basketball game, Saturday, May 15, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Daniel Kucin Jr.)(AP\/Daniel Kucin Jr.)<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP21137769802456-780x520.jpg\"\/)
\n Washington Mystics center Tina Charles (31) in action during a WNBA basketball game, Saturday, May 15, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Daniel Kucin Jr.)(AP\/Daniel Kucin Jr.)<\/p>\n
NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Tina Charles, the WNBA\u2019s all-time leading rebounder, is retiring from the league, the eight-time All-Star announced Tuesday on social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n Charles, who had 4,262 rebounds in her career, also finished as the league\u2019s No. 2 all-time scorer behind Diana Taurasi. The 15-year veteran scored 8,396 points in the regular season.<\/p>\n \u201cToday, I officially announce my retirement from basketball. Fifteen years at the professional level and a lifetime of love for this game,\u201d Charles wrote in her post. \u201cI\u2019ve experienced the highest highs and the lowest lows, and I\u2019m thankful for all of it. Through it all, I learned how to show up. When doubt got loud and narratives were written about me, I kept showing up. That\u2019s the New Yorker in me, where resilience is built, not talked about.\u201d<\/p>\n Charles was the No. 1 pick by the Connecticut Sun in 2010 after helping the UConn Huskies win consecutive NCAA championships in 2009 and 2010. She was the AP Player of the Year in 2010.<\/p>\n She played with the Sun until 2013 before a blockbuster trade sent her home to New York.<\/p>\n She starred in her hometown through the 2019 season. She sat out the WNBA bubble season the next year before playing in Washington, Phoenix, Seattle and Atlanta. Charles came back to Connecticut last season and started 42 games while averaging 16.3 points and 5.8 rebounds.<\/p>\n The 37-year-old center helped the U.S. win three Olympic gold medals as well as three World Cup championships. She earned WNBA MVP honors in 2012 and was the league\u2019s top scorer in two seasons. The one thing Charles never had a chance to do was play in a WNBA Finals.<\/p>\n \u201cThis game gave me everything, and I\u2019ll miss it deeply,\u201d Charles said. \u201cBut my mom always taught me, don\u2019t stop at what you\u2019ve done, keep going toward what you still see. And I still see so much. There are still dreams in my heart waiting to be lived, and I can\u2019t wait to share that journey with you all.\u201d<\/p>\n Besides her impact on the court, Charles has left a lasting one off of it, helping to save countless lives for more than a decade with her charity \u2014 Hopey\u2019s Heart Foundation. She\u2019s donated 500 AEDs (automated external defibrillators) through the organization that started in 2013 and is named in honor of her aunt.<\/p>\n It\u2019s dedicated to curbing deaths in the United States from sudden cardiac arrest. The organization works to ensure schools and public places have lifesaving equipment such as defibrillators on hand.<\/p>\n Charles said that before she started the foundation she didn\u2019t realize how common and deadly sudden cardiac arrest could be until she read about Wes Leonard, a high school basketball player who suffered a heart attack and died after basketball practice in 2011.<\/p>\n And when her aunt died a few years later from organ failure, Charles committed herself to helping to solve the problem.<\/p>\n