Mystics open training camp in a new era without Elena Delle Donne

The sights and sounds of organized basketball officially returned to Entertainment and Sports Arena this week as the Washington Mystics opened training camp. Some of those sights and sounds, however, were drastically different from usual.

For the first time since she joined the team in 2017, Elena Delle Donne was not anywhere to be seen — and she won’t be for the foreseeable future. The two-time WNBA MVP, the biggest contributor to the 2019 championship banner hanging on the practice court wall, is taking time away from the sport after declining to sign the core qualifying offer that would have given her a fully guaranteed supermax contract this season. The team is open to discussing a return during the season, but the absence of Delle Donne’s 6-foot-5 frame and No. 11 jersey is impossible to ignore.