Tina Charles Retires After 14 WNBA Seasons

Tina Charles announced her retirement from the WNBA on Tuesday, ending a 14-year career that redefined what a post player could be in women's basketball. She finishes as the league's all-time leader in both rebounds (4,262) and made field goals (3,364), and ranks second in scoring with 8,396 career points — trailing only Diana Taurasi's 10,646.

Charles was the 2012 WNBA MVP, an eight-time All-Star, and won three Olympic gold medals with Team USA. She was a two-time national champion at UConn under Geno Auriemma before becoming one of the most decorated pros in league history. The one thing that eluded her was a WNBA championship — she never won one despite a career's worth of elite performance.

Off the court, she founded Hopey's Heart Foundation to raise awareness of sudden cardiac arrest and won the Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award twice. The WNBA is better for having had her. This is a real one retiring.