Only one player in WNBA history has scored more points than Atlanta Dream center Tina Charles.
Early in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s 72-63 victory over the Phoenix Mercury, Charles registered career point No. 7,489. The feat helped the 14-year veteran pass Hall of Famer Tina Thompson for second on the league’s all-time scoring list.
Fittingly, Charles accomplished the monumental feat across the court from friend and WNBA all-time leading scorer Diana Taurasi. The pair competed alongside one another internationally and were briefly teammates on the Mercury in 2022, but they also shared the common bond of having come from the UConn Huskies program.
Taurasi has been the league’s top scorer since passing Thompson in 2017. Meanwhile, just over a year ago, Taurasi became the first player in league history to surpass 10,000 career points.
Now second in points all-time, could Charles catch Taurasi? Probably not, even if she plays as long as the 42-year-old future Hall of Famer, who entered Wednesday’s action in her 20th WNBA season with 10,497 points, 3,108 more than the Dream center.
But that likely doesn’t matter much to Charles. Regardless of what’s ahead, she’s already established herself among the league’s all-time greats.
An eight-time All-Star and the 2012 MVP, Charles came into Wednesday only 148 rebounds away from passing Sylvia Fowles for the most in WNBA history, per Stathead. Meanwhile, she’s the only player in league history to record at least 7,000 points, 3,500 rebounds, 900 assists and 400 blocks in a career.
