Throughout her professional playing career, DeLisha Milton-Jones always put team first. Her commitment to winning and pursuit of excellence brought two Olympic gold medals (2000 and ’08), two World Championships (1998 and 2002), two WNBA titles (2001 and ’02) and multiple international championships, including EuroLeague. At the end of her WNBA career in 2015, she had played in more games (499) than any other WNBA player. In the following decade, only three players — Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, and DeWanna Bonner — surpassed that number.
Despite her many successes, the accolades had been slow to come. The tide turned in 2022, when she was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. This summer, the Los Angeles Sparks, the team for which she played 11 seasons, including the two WNBA Championships, will officially retire her #8 jersey.
“This means everything to me,” said Milton-Jones, now in her seventh season as head coach at Old Dominion University, a Division I institution in Virginia. “It’s the best salve you can put on those broken areas of my heart … Now that it’s finally here, the healing can take place and the celebrating can take place.”
Through all the hard work and the sacrifices, she was committed to growing the game and the desire to be proud of the legacy she left. Thrilled to play in the WNBA, she also played overseas every off-season so she could earn money for her future. After the hall of fame honor, she admitted to herself that she wanted recognition for her outstanding career with the Sparks.
“I’ve never been the person to toot my own horn, but at this moment, I can stand in front of anyone as a grown woman very proud of my work, and I know there’s a tremendous amount of integrity behind it,” said Milton-Jones. “Now that it is here, I’m proud and honored.”
A college coach since 2016, Milton-Jones is now able to share with the student-athletes what those early years of the WNBA were like and try to instill in them that kind of passion for basketball. “You knew that you were doing something bigger than you, and you were fighting for its longevity,” she said. “I help my players be aware of what moment they’re in … be present and realize, ‘Something cool is happening,’ just like I did.”
