Tiffany Hayes, a veteran of the WNBA for 11 years and a 2017 All-Star, has declared her retirement from the league.
Hayes made the announcement on the “Counted Me Out” podcast on Wednesday, stating, “It's the end.”
“You can still catch me overseas. WNBA – this right here with the Connecticut Sun was my last season,” she said, as reported by Alexa Philippou of ESPN.
Hayes, at the age of 34, has had a notable career in the WNBA, starting with her draft to the Atlanta Dream in 2012 as the 14th overall pick. She spent a decade with the Dream and recently played for the Connecticut Sun. Hayes discussed her reasons for retiring, highlighting her age, desire to pursue other interests and the physical demands of playing continuously.
“I really feel like I'm older now. I've got a lot of stuff that I really always wanted to get into, but I'm so busy because I'm playing year-round. … Plus my body, playing 11 seasons straight with no breaks, every year, two seasons in a year every time – that's a lot,” Hayes said. “I just figured I'd focus on one thing and then summertime, I can turn up my businesses, turn up time with my family, and just live like that. I want to see how that goes.”
Throughout her career in the WNBA, Hayes has been a consistent performer, averaging 13.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists over 317 games. She has made it to the playoffs six times, including a recent semifinal appearance with the Sun. In 2018, she was named to the all-WNBA first team and the all-defensive second team.
Hayes has also built a successful career playing overseas, with stints in China, Turkey and Spain. While she's stepping back from the WNBA, she plans to continue playing internationally.
Before her WNBA career, Tiffany Hayes was a standout player at UConn, where she won two national championships in 2009 and 2010.
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