Mystics' Delle Donne awaiting risk assessment

[July 09, 2020]    (Reuters) - The WNBA's Most Valuable Player Elena Delle Donne says she is awaiting a risk assessment from a medical panel after not travelling with the Washington Mystics to the league's bio-secure bubble before the season's proposed start this month.

Elena Delle Donne (USA) of USA pauses during the game. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

The Mystics said on Wednesday Delle Donne and Tina Charles, the league's 2012 MVP, had entered the WNBA player medical evaluation protocol.

Delle Donne, 30, said on Twitter she was waiting for an assessment due to her battle with Lyme Disease and a compromised immune system.

"For now I'm following protocol and waiting for a risk assessment from the league medical panel. Missing my team mates but health and safety are the priority," she said.

Mystics coach Mike Thibault said that neither Delle Donne or Charles were ill and that the medical panel was evaluating the risks of playing amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Elena and Tina are not sick. Because of their past medical histories, they are being evaluated by an independent panel of doctors to determine their risk for playing this summer," Thibault tweeted.

(Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

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