MY SHOT

WNBA star Delle Donne shares her story of basketball success with an emphasis on how she has overcome trials and tribulations while maintaining her commitment to her family and friends.

Coming out publicly as a lesbian before the 2016 Olympics is almost glossed over, but Delle Donne’s commitment to her sister, Lizzie, who was born blind and deaf with cerebral palsy and later diagnosed as autistic, is there from beginning to end. This commitment has led Delle Donne to include girls with disabilities in her basketball camps and to a role as an ambassador to the Special Olympics. Still, Delle Donne’s career is the focus, and readers hear much more about wins and losses than they gain in understanding of the challenges Lizzie faces. (The ballplayer’s bouts with Lyme disease have also led to work with the Lyme Research Alliance.) While there is plenty of basketball for devotees of the game, Delle Donne gives equal time to the psychology of winning and losing, and she emphasizes that the difference between a great player and a good one is not just talent. Amid the motivational insights is nestled the tremendous support she has had from her white, middle-class family. Along with co-writer Durand, she pens a breezy, conversational narrative that goes down easily.

Inspiring in many ways, this will be meat and potatoes to girls with their own basketball aspirations.