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Tiffany Hayes, All-Star and UConn champion, retires from WNBA after 11 seasons – The Athletic
WNBA
Tiffany Hayes, a 2017 WNBA All-Star and a two-time National Champion at UConn, has retired from the WNBA.
Hayes announced her retirement on the “Counted Me Out” podcast, making it clear that her season last summer with the Connecticut Sun was her final one in the league.
“It’s a lot of things. I really feel like I’m older now. I got a lot of stuff that I really always want to get into but I’m so busy ’cause I’m playing year-round,” Hayes said. “Plus, my body, playing 11 seasons straight with no breaks, every year, two seasons in a year every time, that’s a lot.”
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Hayes, the No. 14 pick in the 2012 WNBA Draft, spent the first 10 seasons of her career with the Atlanta Dream. Over that time, she made the All-Star Game in 2017 and was named All-WNBA First-Team in 2018. She averaged nearly 14 points on 42.9 percent shooting from the field with Atlanta.
Last offseason, Hayes was traded from the Dream to the Sun. After playing only 32 games combined in 2021 and 2022, she played all 40 games last year, averaging 12.1 points and three rebounds per game. She said in her exit interview with the Sun that “the stars really aligned for me” in Connecticut. She repeatedly talked about the “gratefulness” she felt, noting that she had avoided a significant injury. “Who knows where I’ll be,” she said. “Who knows what I’ll be doing, but I know one thing, whatever I’m doing or into is gonna be amazing.”
During her appearance on the podcast, Hayes said she is admittedly a bit nervous about not playing next summer. She clarified, however, that just because she is leaving the WNBA she isn’t leaving basketball entirely.
“You could still catch me overseas,” she said. “I just figured I’d focus on one thing and then summer time I could turn up my business. I could turn up life with my family and just live life like that.”
Last winter, The Athletic met with Hayes while she was playing abroad in Mersin, Turkey. While there, the veteran guard admitted to feeling torn about how to progress in her career.
“I don’t want to play two seasons anymore,” she said. “I’m really at a crossroads right now. Which one do I play?”
She added that she felt her salary might not be what it once was because of her age. “I won’t get as compensated as I used to get in the league or overseas, that’s gonna depend on a lot,” she said. “Which team is gonna want to give me what I think I deserve.”
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This offseason, Hayes has been playing in the Chinese Women’s Basketball Association, for Shanghai. On Dec. 10, she scored 30 points, while adding seven rebounds and four assists in a loss.
Before playing professionally, Hayes helped the Huskies win consecutive championships in 2009 and 2010. She was named a third-team All-American in 2012.
“It is bittersweet to hear about Tiffany’s retirement from the WNBA. It has been a pleasure to have known and watched her play since her high school days—an underrated player with a big heart on and off the court,” Sun’s general manager Darius Taylor said. “I would like to congratulate her on a wonderful career and thank her for being a part of the Connecticut Sun organization. She will always be welcomed back to Connecticut.”
(Photo: Brian Babineau / NBAE via Getty Images)
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Ben Pickman is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the WNBA and women’s college basketball. Previously, he was a writer at Sports Illustrated where he primarily covered women’s basketball and the NBA. He has also worked at CNN Sports and the Wisconsin Center for Journalism Ethics. Follow Ben on Twitter @benpickman
