Liberty Legend Stays Bright Despite Sun Chaos
BROOKLYN — Dire deja vu followed New York Liberty legend Tina Charles to Uncasville.
The Queens native's final seasons in seafoam were marred by the murky waters of a power transfer, as the Liberty moved from under Madison Square Garden's famously stylized ceiling to the grassy roof of Barclays Center owned by Joe and Clara Wu Tsai. Charles' final Liberty hours were played at the cozy Westchester County Center, a lengthy drive from the Garden faithful in rush hour, in the early stages of the sale process.
After some nomadic affairs that created more history, Charles got it right back where she started from, signing a deal with the Connecticut Sun, the team that made her the top pick of 2010's draft out of Geno Auriemma's historic UConn squad, before shipping her to Manhattan four years later.
Having shipped off a good deal of its assets off to officially tip off a rebuild, the season of the Sun (9-28) is not unlike the ones Charles endured during those purgatorial Westchester years, ones where she was meant to be a downright historic guiding light to young talents Leila Lacan, Aneesah Morrow and Saniya Rivers.
With that experience, or at least Charles' contract, nearly over, head coach Rachid Meziane, himself a WNBA rookie after a sterling career abroad, praised what she has done in these trying hours, which have started to generate some momentum that nearly manifested when the Sun visited Brooklyn to play the Liberty on Monday night.
"We went through hard times and she was there every time to show some resilience and send this message to the group, wait. We need to continue to work. We need to trust on each other. We need to fight," Meziane said. "[She said] keep going, we are in a good way, so you will see, you will see we are going to win. She didn't lie, because now we are winning. So, yeah, it's very appreciable to to have a player like her."
To Meziane's point, the Sun took elimination in style, winning three in a row by double figures behind Charles masterpieces before taking the Liberty to the brink in what became an 81-79 decision in favor of the hosts. It's establishing some decent momentum as the team presses forward into unchartered territory for the Sun's Nutmeg State era.
The Sun, however, could be on the move themselves after over two decades in the Constitution State, now at the center of a wide-ranging ownership saga that could situate them in Boston, Hartford, or the faraway land of Houston when all is said and done.
It's a macabre irony for the women's basketball legend, earner of nearly after individual and team honor in the game short of a WNBA championship ring, but nothing she's concerning herself with.
"I don't pay attention to it. My job is to play on the court, be accountable to my teammates, and, the front office, that's their job," Charles said in her latest return to New York as an opponent on Monday. "At this age, to be able to still play at a high level and hang with the best power forwards and centers in this league. I'm just very thankful that I'm able to still do this and be very efficient."
Proof of Charles' healthy nonchalance is in the hardwood pudding: fresh off yet another WNBA milestone, namely the earning of her 200th career double-double, the 36-year-old Charles rejoined the ranks of the weekly elite, securing the most recent Eastern Conference Player of the Week Award on Tuesday. She's joined by Western counterpart and MVP successor A'ja Wilson of Las Vegas after averaging 19 points and 8.3 rebounds in a victorious week for the Sun.
"I'm thankful, because it just shows that I'm very efficient, very consistent, in my career, in my later years. I'm very thankful to still be able to do this, and at a high level," Charles said of her recent efforts, namely the latest double century plateau. "[The future] has always been in my mind, just to go into the offseason as if I'm going to come back and just see how free agency goes, how things are CBA goes, but my first desire is to play always."
"I think just as far as post players go, players that are in my position, I'm just setting the bar really high as far as rebounding, being able to be a three level score, just how hard I go, and just the longevity that I have, just the way I've been able to take care of my body, Charles said. "[I hope my legacy] is just setting the standard and just following those that came up."
Charles, who hinted that she will seek further clarity on her future once the new collective bargaining agreement drama subsides, did her part against her seafoam successors on Saturday, putting up 13 points on 6-of-12 from the field in defeat.
Geoff Magliocchetti is a veteran sportswriter who contributes to a variety of sites on the "On SI" network. In addition to the Yankees/Mets, Geoff also covers the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, and New York Giants and has previously written about the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Staten Island Yankees, and NASCAR.