- The Washington Mystics defeated the Connecticut Sun on Thursday night to win their first WNBA title.
- The Mystics were led by league MVP Elena Delle Donne, who played through several injuries to help her team take the championship.
- After the game, one of Delle Donne’s teammates revealed that her injuries were even worse than people knew.
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Elena Delle Donne was already playing through pain.
The Washington Mystics superstar played in a knee brace through the 2019 season after suffering a brutal injury in the postseason last year. This year she donned a mask to protect a recently broken nose. She was forced to exit Game 2 of the Finals due to a herniated disc but returned for Game 3 to play 26 minutes in a 94-81 Mystics win.
As it turns out, fans still didn’t have the full run-down of Delle Donne’s injuries. After the Mystics’ 89-87 win in a decisive Game 5 on Thursday night, her teammate Natasha Cloud broke the news.
“I’m about to drop this bomb on y’all,” the Mystics guard said during the post-game press conference. “Elena not only has one herniated disc. She has three.”
“The medical staff is gonna kill you right now,” Delle Donne said with a laugh.
—Dime (@DimeUPROXX) October 11, 2019
It hurt. While describing the herniated discs to reporters after Game 3, Delle Donne said she was struggling to sleep because the pain was so severe.
“There’s only two positions I can lay in where I’m not in pain,” Delle Donne said. “It’s just a lot of moving arou