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LAS VEGAS — Tina Charles did not hesitate. Requested if a WNBA championship looks like a “must-have” or a very nice addition to an already Corridor of Fame-worthy profession, the Seattle Storm middle’s reply was rapid.
“I feel it could be icing on the cake,” she stated.
Charles was sitting in a principally quiet Michelob Extremely Enviornment the day earlier than Sport 1 of the WNBA semifinals in opposition to the Las Vegas Aces. Charles turns 34 in December, however she seems to be ageless on the court docket. She was a key a part of two undefeated nationwide championship groups at UConn in 2009 and 2010, is a three-time Olympic gold medalist and the 2012 WNBA MVP. Simply final season, whereas with the Washington Mystics, she led the WNBA in scoring at 23.4 PPG.
In fact she desires to win a WNBA title. However it’s not going to make or break the way in which she feels about herself or her profession. She stated it is not why she left the Phoenix Mercury in June after which signed with Seattle. And that is the a part of her story she believes the media, ESPN included, bought unsuitable.
“To me, success was about making the choice to come back right here,” Charles stated. “It stated so much about me as a lady, extra even than me as a participant, by way of what I’m going to face for. If a championship does not occur, it does not take away something from the participant I grew to become, or what I’ve discovered, or the experiences.”
Charles got here up enormous within the collection opener Sunday, getting a franchise playoff-record 18 rebounds, together with 13 factors, because the No. 4 seed Storm beat the top-seeded Aces 76-73. Her contract divorce from Phoenix, the staff she joined as a free agent in February, is 2 months within the rearview mirror, and she or he does not actually need to re-hash it now. Her thoughts is concentrated on the Storm.
What she’s going to say about leaving Phoenix is that it wasn’t about needing to get extra pictures or wanting an even bigger position within the offense. It wasn’t about leaving to chase after a championship. Charles does not specify what occurred in Phoenix, however says her departure was about caring for herself and sustaining requirements she thinks gamers have to have.
“It is a enterprise, and if we do not maintain up our finish, we get minimize,” Charles stated. “I feel for future generations, I hope I’ve allowed them to know the significance of being in an excellent working setting and an excellent tradition. The significance of a training workers and the way they put together, and being accountable to teammates which can be round you.
“I need to thrive in the suitable setting at this level in my profession, being 13 years in. Quite a lot of different gamers possibly would have had time to settle in and see what the end result of that was. Me being 33, I simply knew what my purpose was and it is also necessary to know what course of you need to undergo to achieve that purpose.”
Charles got here to the Storm with one particular factor in thoughts: Fill the position Seattle wanted. The Storm have Breanna Stewart, Jewell Loyd and Sue Bird as key gamers from their 2018 and 2020 championship groups. However with one other participant from these squads, middle Mercedes Russell, sidelined most of this season with recurrent headache syndrome, rebounding was a difficulty. And who higher than Charles, who has averaged 9.3 rebounds in her profession, to assist repair it?
“She’s been very skilled,” Seattle coach Noelle Quinn stated. “She got here with a mindset of, ‘I am keen to do no matter you ask,’ and that was a terrific beginning block. It was an understanding on each events: She wished to come back in and win.”
Charles performed her first recreation with the Storm on June 29, when she had 4 factors and 5 rebounds in a victory over Las Vegas. Beginning July 5, she scored in double figures in 9 consecutive video games. She completed the common season averaging 12.6 factors and seven.4 rebounds in 18 video games with the Storm.
In a first-round sweep in opposition to the Mystics staff that she performed for final yr, Charles had a mixed 21 factors and 12 rebounds. Then within the semifinal opener, her rebounding helped set the tone from the start.
“Coming into this recreation, the factor I knew I might management was simply being on the boards, watching their tendencies,” Charles stated after Sport 1. “I took it private.”
In Seattle, Charles is now teammates with Chicken, Stewart and Gabby Williams, all UConn graduates. Chicken, Charles and Stewart are additionally all natives of New York state, they usually have been Olympic teammates, together with Loyd. All of it helped Charles’ transition to Seattle.
“From Day 1 of her arriving, it was going to be about Tina getting comfy enjoying our model and discovering her methods to slot in,” Chicken stated. “And us concurrently being comfy with the kind of participant who can actually dominate on the low block. So over the course of time, it was solely going to get higher. Consolation is all the pieces if you’re speaking a few staff recreation.”
Charles stated if it seems to be as if it has been a simple, seamless transition, that is considerably deceiving. It has taken a number of work.
“What I have been capable of do right here is adapt, and I am grateful to have the ability to present I can adapt,” Charles stated. “I take satisfaction in being a New Yorker, and that is what we do: We adapt to our environment, maintain shifting and maintain our heads up. No matter individuals’s opinions or what else is thrown at you. However, sure, once I was making my choice on leaving Phoenix, I knew there was a possible touchdown house — that Seattle might be an excellent match.”
Stewart stated she has benefited from having one other large physique and fellow MVP inside.
“Us having performed a number of USA Basketball collectively, we’re used to one another’s video games,” Stewart stated. “However often, that is every week or 10 days or a bit of longer with the Olympics. Now we have now Tina with the Storm, and are seeing how she is off the court docket, the wonderful human she is. Her character and competitiveness are so sturdy, and she or he’s actually making an attempt to assist us as a staff and simply being there for everyone.”
Charles stated her recreation has tailored over time, one other factor she brings to Seattle.
“I’ve all the time beloved difficult myself,” she stated. “And more often than not once I’m doing a exercise, it is not a put up exercise. I am doing guard issues — simply understanding the right way to assist unfold the ground, and realizing as you become old, you are not going to be as quick or fast. However I can nonetheless be as skillful and good in making an attempt to benefit from the alternatives that I’ve.
“I’ve all the time been a assured individual and participant. I am by no means going to say to myself that I can not do one thing. That is simply the grind that I put in that folks do not see, placing in that point to have the ability to come out and do in on the court docket.”
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