Elena Delle Donne Defies the Odds and Makes A Difference

In honor of Women’s History Month and Disability Awareness Month, Athletes for Hope (AFH) is proud to spotlight WNBA Champion, MVP and Olympic Gold Medalist, Elena Delle Donne. She has consistently used her platform to be a role model to young girls and her foundation raises money for her two main causes: Lyme disease awareness and differently-abled children.

The Delaware sharpshooter has continuously stood out on the court as the number one recruit in her class, three-time high school state champion, a McDonald’s All-American, CAA rookie of the year and three-time CAA player of the year in three years of basketball at the University of Delaware, a number two overall pick, WNBA rookie of the year, two-time MVP, WNBA champion, the only WNBA player in the 50-40-90 club, member of the WNBA 25th Anniversary Team, the all-time best free throw shooter in WNBA history and an Olympic gold medalist for Team USA. 

What makes these achievements even more impressive is that Delle Donne has played with Lyme disease since her second year of college basketball. While she has persevered and dominated on the court, the chronic condition affects her daily as a professional athlete. Lyme disease has forced her to miss games throughout her career and take 64 pills each day to be healthy enough to compete. 

In 2014, she became the first National Ambassador for the Lyme Research Alliance and said “If I can be a voice and reach out to people and make them aware of the disease it will help.” Over the last ten years, she has been a leading voice for Lyme disease awareness, promoting affordable treatment and better diagnoses. In an interview with The Guardian, she stated 

“My personal experiences have opened up my eyes to the wide variety of challenges associated with Lyme and I want to do whatever I can to help others suffering. I think speaking out about an illness definitely takes some vulnerability and I wasn’t always comfortable doing it. I realized that speaking my truth and expressing my struggles has inspired others to continue to fight and realize they can still attain their dreams.”

Still, she felt she hadn’t done enough to help those afflicted the same way she was. In 2020, during the COVID pandemic, the WNBA looked to restart play in a bubble, but initially did not deem Delle Donne eligible to opt out and still receive pay due to being immunocompromised. The star used this wrongdoing as a way to spread awareness about Lyme disease in a Players Tribune article where she stated “I know that I need to help us get to a place with Lyme disease where what happened to me this past week never happens to anyone else.”

She now hosts an annual golf tournament for her foundation, the Elena Delle Donne Foundation, raising money and awareness for Lyme disease. The foundation also supports differently-abled children. This cause is especially important to Delle Donne because her older sister, Lizzie, was born with cerebral palsy and autism and is blind and deaf. Thus, Delle Donne can only communicate with her sister in person.

As the top prospect, Delle Donne initially committed and enrolled to play at a basketball powerhouse, but switched to Delaware and stepped away from basketball for a year to be closer to family. This same motive caused her to seek a trade from the Chicago Sky to the Washington Mystics who were a few hours away from Lizzie and home. She reflected in an ESPN article:

“Growing up with my sister, I’ve always been able to realize this is a game, and the game of life is so much more important. You’ve got to follow your heart and your passion because if you don’t have that, it’s not worth doing what you’re doing. [Lizzie’s] been the one to help me realize to follow my path and do it your own way.”

Her strong bond with Lizzie always inspired her to give back to those who are differently-abled. Delle Donne graduated from the University of Delaware majoring in Special Education and always volunteered with kids with intellectual disabilities and in 2014, Delle Donne joined the Special Olympics as a Global Ambassador. She focused on their Motor Activity Training program (MATP) which helps give these children equal access to sports. She continuously makes time to coach Special Olympics children and specifically focuses on empowering more Special Olympics girls to start playing.

She earned the WNBA Cares Community Assist Award when she treated Matthew Walzer, a Special Olympian with cerebral palsy, to courtside seats at the all-star game while wearing accessible sneakers that Walzer customized. When the 2022 Orlando Special Olympics USA Games came around, Delle Donne volunteered to be a Games Ambassador, using her influence to spotlight the amazing athletes there.

Delle Donne not only combines her service passions through her foundation, but she also did so for her signature shoe the Nike Air Deldon which debuted in a lime green colorway for Lyme disease awareness and offers a collapsible heel and Velcro straps to provide easy access for differently-abled athletes.

On top of fighting for her causes, Delle Donne is a role model for so many young girls. She frequently hosts young girls in the Delaware area at her De11e Donne Academy and has even written a children’s book series for young girls based on her middle school experiences.

Elena Delle Donne has a genuine passion for the causes that she cares about which has positively impacted the lives of endless young girls, people with Lyme disease, and differently-abled children. Few players rival her on-court achievements, but Delle Donne shines even brighter off the court.