Throughout the summer time, in a collection referred to as Hometown Hopefuls, NBC is spotlighting the tales of Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls from all fifty states, in addition to Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, as they work in the direction of the chance to symbolize their nation on the Paris 2024 Games subsequent yr. We’ll study their paths to their sports activities’ greatest stage, and the cities and communities which were formative alongside the best way. Visit NBCSports.com/hometownhopefuls for extra tales from throughout America as these Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls put together for Paris in summer time of 2024.

When Elena Delle Donne received to the WNBA, she shortly discovered that the assist she’d at all times acquired in her house state of Delaware was one thing of an anomaly. “I was really shocked how other states and other places treat women’s sports compared to male sports,” Delle Donne stated.

The forward-guard grew up in Wilmington, the place her highschool group would promote out video games on the 5,000-seat Bob Carpenter Center. She then went on to varsity on the University of Delaware, the place the ladies’s basketball group recurrently outdrew the boys’s group. “It was that way because we were the better team. So I think Delaware certainly spoiled me.”

In 2013, Delle Donne moved away from Delaware; she was drafted because the second general choose by the Chicago Sky. She was named the WNBA Rookie of the Year that season, and awarded the WNBA MVP in 2015. In 2016, she joined Team USA in Rio for the 2016 Olympics, the place they received gold. The subsequent yr, Delle Donne voiced her need to maneuver nearer to house, in order that she may see her household extra. She was traded to the Washington Mystics within the 2017 offseason.

Now that Delle Donne performs driving distance from house, she will get to return loads. But she nonetheless misses her favourite native Wilmington spots, like Grotto Pizza and Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop. She loves the Delaware seashores, too. But this summer time, Delle Donne hardly had any time to tan. She’s coming off of three grueling years recovering from again surgical procedures and different accidents, and preventing to play her finest basketball but.

“I have done everything in my absolute power to get back to being on the court,” Delle Donne instructed NBC Sports. She opted out of the 2020 bubble season and stated that throughout the Olympics in Tokyo in 2021, which she missed whereas persevering with restoration, she wasn’t certain she’d ever play once more. “I was at a really tough place still with my back. I was in too much pain to go out to dinner with my wife and sit there and eat a meal.”

Thinking in regards to the subsequent Olympics wasn’t even on her radar. “At that point, I was just trying to feel okay again, to live a normal life, let alone go play basketball.”

Delle Donne has come a great distance since then. She received again to the court docket within the 2022 season and in 2023 was a WNBA All Star. The WNBA playoffs start Wednesday, and the Mystics have clinched a berth for the second straight season. They’ll tackle the New York Liberty within the first spherical, with the Liberty possible in search of revenge after the Mystics denied them the No. 1 general seed with a buzzer-beater victory on the shut of the common season.

Beyond 2023 league play, Delle Donne is already beginning Olympic coaching camps with Team USA. “I go from winning a championship to then having the hardest injury of my career. And now I’m feeling good,” she stated. “I’m back, I’m playing. So obviously the goal is Paris.”

Back in 2016, at Delle Donne’s first Olympics, she was comparatively early in her profession. “You think you’re gonna go to every single Olympics and you’re going to be healthy all the time and things are just going great,” she stated, including how inspiring it was to be round athletes from all around the world. Delle Donne is aware of what it takes to be a part of the Olympic group, and proper now, she’s targeted on securing her spot. “I haven’t been able to compete with [USAB] for a really long time, and I just miss it. It’s the best basketball you can play with the greatest players.”

No matter the place she’s taking part in, Delle Donne’s followers will little doubt be cheering her on. “I still have fans from Delaware who have watched me since I was in eighth grade,” she stated. “It’s just such a loyal, incredible group of people.” As for her personal private restoration journey and the street that lies forward, Delle Donne’s drive comes from basketball itself. “I’ve been able to stay motivated through it all because I love this game so much.”