It’s already been an eventful year for Elena Delle Donne.
The Washington Mystics forward got married last November, published her memoir in March and released the first two books in her middle school-aimed “Hoops” series in March and June, respectively.
On the court, Delle Donne helped the Mystics to a 4-0 start to the regular season, but a stomach illness then forced her to miss four games. Shortly after she returned, Delle Donne scored a season-high 36 points in a win over the Connecticut Sun, with 22 points in the first half. Her 22 combined with Kristi Toliver’s 20 set a WNBA record for the most points by two teammates in the first half of a game.
Got all that?
Now the Mystics (6-5) are preparing to host the Chicago Sky, the team that drafted and traded Delle Donne, Tuesday night at Capital One Arena.
More than a full season removed from playing for Chicago, Delle Donne sees the Sky as just the next opponent on the schedule. She compared her situation to Toliver recently playing against her former team, the Los Angeles Sparks.
“It’s a lot different this year,” Delle Donne said. “Kristi just went through it with L.A. and I could just see, she was just completely different this year versus last year. So we’re removed, we’re now really here. This is our squad now, and we know the importance of every single game this season because the schedule’s crazy and anything can happen.”
Delle Donne played for the Sky from 2013 to 2016, but wanted to be traded in part to move closer to her family in Delaware. It’s a topic the budding author covered in her memoir, “My Shot: Balancing It All and Standing Tall,” which she said was much more difficult to write than her middle-school series that, by comparison, is “all fun and games.”
Delle Donne enjoyed “developing characters, some that are based on my life, some that were just absolutely fictional,” she said. “So that was kind of fun, in using my imagination. The memoir was tough in having to relive things and really to get to the nitty-gritty of stuff.”
The second book in the “Hoops” series, “Full-Court Press,” sees the main character Elle (loosely based on Delle Donne) learn to manage a busy schedule of several commitments important to her. The third installment is due out in October; Delle Donne is in the editing phase and finds time to meet with her publisher during the season, a packed schedule not unlike Elle’s.
For now, her and her teammates’ focus is on playing the Sky (3-7). The Mystics have lost four of their last five games and want to turn things around in their coming homestand — they’ll play five of the next six games in Washington.
Head coach Mike Thibault said the team is at its healthiest point in nearly a year, with only one player, Tayler Hill, questionable to play against Chicago. Being at full strength shouldn’t be taken for granted; the Mystics went 1-3 when Delle Donne was sidelined.
“It’s always difficult when you have someone of her caliber, and what she means to this team, to not be on the floor,” center Krystal Thomas said. “But the beauty of our team is we have a lot of balance and a lot of depth this year so we’re willing to pick up the slack a little bit. But it’s always great to have her on the floor.”
Delle Donne said the team is trying to return to form on defense.
“We especially feel like we lost our ball pressure, our help side, our talking,” Delle Donne said. “Our defense is good, it usually just lets us flow right into our offensive transition where we’re really dangerous, so we just gotta get stops.”
Thomas said the Sky are a versatile and balanced team, and Thibault feels their transition offense is dangerous.
“They push the ball hard. They have great athletes on the wing. Their backcourt of (Courtney) Vandersloot and (Allie) Quigley are a really great shooting backcourt,” he said.
The Mystics and Sky tip off Tuesday at 7 p.m.
• Adam Zielonka can be reached at azielonka@washingtontimes.com.
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