After 14 seasons in the WNBA, eight-time All-Star Tina Charles is retiring as the league’s all-time leading rebounder and second-leading scorer.
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The 37-year-old made the announcement on Tuesday and closes out her career with 8,396 career regular-season points to go along with 4,262 rebounds.
“It was all a dream, that’s the thought that keeps finding me,” she wrote in a statement posted on social media announcing her decision. “That, and deep gratitude. God has covered my life in ways I can’t fully put into words, and by His grace and mercy, I’ve been able to live out something bigger than I ever imagined.”
It was all a dream.. pic.twitter.com/YtComVxYYN
— Tina Charles (@tinacharles31) May 5, 2026
Charles was selected No. 1 overall by the Connecticut Sun in the 2010 WNBA Draft and quickly delivered on the hype, earning Rookie of the Year honors before being named league MVP in 2012. Ahead of the 2014 season, she was traded to her hometown team, the New York Liberty, where she spent six seasons and made five All-Star appearances.
Over the course of her career, she also had stints with the Washington Mystics, Phoenix Mercury, Seattle Storm and Atlanta Dream, before returning to Connecticut for her final season in 2025. Charles was named to the All-WNBA first team five times and the All-Defensive first team once, while also leading the league in rebounding four times and in scoring twice. She helped the U.S. win three Olympic gold medals, and in 2021 she was selected to the WNBA 25th Anniversary Team.
Before turning pro, Charles starred at UConn, leading the Huskies to national championships in 2009 and 2010. As a senior, she swept nearly every major national honor, including AP Player of the Year, John Wooden Player of the Year, USBWA National Player of the Year, and Big East Player of the Year.
“Fifteen years at the professional level and a lifetime of love for this game,” Charles wrote in her post. “I’ve experienced the highest highs and the lowest lows, and I’m thankful for all of it. Through it all, I learned how to show up. When doubt got loud and narratives were written about me, I kept showing up. That’s the New Yorker in me, where resilience is built, not talked about.”
Her bio on X references her faith in God: “His time. His way. His glory.” She’s also been public about her faith in interviews. She told The Ballers Magazine in August 2025 that she accepted Christ through Athletes In Action, and that faith helped her grow in how she was able to handle the mental and physical transition from the college game to the pros.
“My faith is everything for me,” she told the magazine. “Athletes in Action was on our campus and Maya Moore was a part of it. I had another teammate, Kaili McLaren (as well). I went to the camp and I was really able to learn how to make Jesus my motivation for my sport, so just giving thanks to Him for the blessings that I have. Once I accepted Christ — that was in 2009 — every time I took the floor my junior and senior year that’s when I started to turn the corner. I just kept saying to myself: ‘I’m playing for Him. I’m playing for an audience of One.’
“That was my motivation out there. That was the reason why I was going hard. That was the reason why my effort was what it was. That’s why I wanted to get in the gym because it was just my way of glorifying God when I was out there playing. That’s when things started turning for me my last two years at UConn.”
In August 2024, after becoming the WNBA’s second-leading scorer, she gave glory to God in her press conference comments.
“Just a whole bunch of gratitude,” Charles said. “I know this moment is big, but I have to give glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I’m just so much in awe at just how faithful He is … it’s unimaginable, and God just really gets the glory.”
She sat out the 2023 season and thought she was done playing. Not in a great space emotionally or mentally, she wasn’t sure if she still had a place in the league.
“So for me to be here right now, this is really special,” she said in the press conference.
She posted on Instagram at the end of 2023 reflecting on what had been a trying year for her and gave praise to God through it. She also referenced Hebrews 12:11, which says, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
“Trials are apart (sic) of life, but God always provides what we need in order to endure,” Charles wrote. “He sifts & refines us & closes doors to position & put us in our right place. Through the disappointments & losses, God’s purpose in all His choices for us is His glory. His goal is not to inflict pain unnecessarily but to let Christ’s life shine through us in hardship, to stabilize our confidence in God’s goodness, and to strengthen our trust in His loving sovereignty.
“His grace is always sufficient. Remember, it’s not the trial that develops or destroys us, but rather our response to that hardship.”
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Then, in September 2024, after becoming the WNBA’s all-time rebounding and double-double leader, she gave glory to God in her postgame locker room speech after thanking her coaches and teammates.
“I have to give glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” she said. “Last year, my faith is what carried me. My faith is what allowed me to be standing here right now.”
Charles now retires as one of the most decorated players in college and pro basketball history. Perhaps the only thing missing was playing in the WNBA Finals.
“This game gave me everything, and I’ll miss it deeply,” Charles said in her statement. “But my mom always taught me, don’t stop at what you’ve done, keep going toward what you still see. And I still see so much. There are still dreams in my heart waiting to be lived, and I can’t wait to share that journey with you all.”
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