Two-time MVP Elena Delle Donne is considered one of the best to ever play in the WNBA. In 2019, she led the Washington Mystics to their first WNBA championship in franchise history. Playing through three herniated discs, a broken nose and a knee injury, Delle Donne managed to dominate in the winner-takes-all Game 5 putting up 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

“I was given all the warnings. I was told, like, this isn't the greatest way to go about this,” Delle Donne told In the Moment’s David Greene, “but I wasn't gonna listen.”

Delle Donne’s decision to ignore warnings from team doctors and play through her injuries helped the Mystics cement the win. She credits her mindset about playing through the pain to her older sister, Lizzie, who has cerebral palsy and was born deaf and blind.

“The things she has to overcome is way more than any of the pain that I had to deal with in Game 5,” Delle Donne said.

In The Moment’s David Greene sat down with Delle Donne at the Mystics practice facility in Washington, D.C. to discuss that game and how her close relationship with her sister helped shape her uncommon career path in the WNBA.

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