The 2019 WNBA champion Washington Mystics won their first title last week. Two-time league MVP and gold medalist Elena Delle Donne has been welcomed by two other DC teams who recently achieved or are currently fighting for their own first championship victories.
Tuesday, she threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Nationals’ NLCS-winning game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Wednesday, she took the ceremonial puck-drop before the Capitals’ 4-3 comeback win against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Video
Delle Donne walked out to a cheering crowd from the Nats dugout before Game Four of the NLCS. After a clean throw to Aaron Barrett, she raised her arms and egged on the crowd, getting their energy as high as possible for the game.
After getting the ball and a hug from Barrett the two posed for a picture.
23 hours later, Delle Donne was back in front a large throng of sports fans.
The Capitals banged their sticks against the boards as Delle Donne walked to center ice before Wednesday night’s game against the Leafs, where she was joined by captains John Tavares and Alex Ovechkin.
After dropping the ceremonial puck, she and fellow multi-time league-MVP-winner Ovechkin–who both fell asleep with their respective championship trophies–exchanged the puck and a hug.
elena delle donne hugging alex ovechkin, & looking taller than him & john tavares even though they're wearing skates, is everything pic.twitter.com/fbS3ASFN7y
— b. (@youripides) October 17, 2019
She also announced the starting line-up before the game, and her prep work with coach Todd Reirden was hilarious. Even though she correctly said Siegenthaler’s name, she requested he be taken out of the lineup for ease of pronunciation. They ended up going with nicknames.
The real conflict happened when she realized Ovechkin wasn’t in the starting lineup. “We’re not starting Ovi? No no no no no, coach, you have to start him.”
With Ovechkin still on the bench to start the game, she prefaced her lineup reading by saying “I didn’t decide this, so don’t get mad at me.”
Suffice to say, after her performance this season–and the energy she brought to both the Nats and the Caps–nobody’s mad at her.
Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Maple Leafs
Headline photo: NBC Sports Washington
