NEW YORK, N.Y.––New York Liberty forward Swin Cash announced she is retiring at the conclusion of the 2016 WNBA season.
Cash starred at McKeesport High School before leading the University Connecticut to an NCAA championship.
Currently in her 15th WNBA season, Cash has won three WNBA Championships (2003, 2006, 2010), two Olympic gold medals (2004, 2012) and two NCAA Championships (2000, 2002). She will end her career ranked in the top-15 in WNBA history in scoring, rebounding, assists, and games played.
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“I started thinking about it in early January, when I was getting a lot of opportunities in broadcasting. My schedule was going to be pretty hectic,” Cash said in a phone interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Cash, who was in Los Angeles with the Liberty for their game against the Sparks on Tuesday night, knew her story was going to be posted at 9 a.m. ET. Even though it was early on the West Coast, she wanted to be awake when her piece ran.
“I set my alarm and wanted to get up and make sure people I needed to talk to beforehand knew,” she said. “I didn’t talk to a lot of my family members and such.”
It has been nonstop texts and social media posts all day in support.
“It’s amazing; people you haven’t talked to in a couple of years reached out,” she said. “People you don’t speak to every day. That was surprising.”
Cash, 36, originally wasn’t even going to announce her retirement. A conversation with the Liberty’s director of player development, Teresa Weatherspoon, changed that.
“If I would have had it my way, I didn’t want to cause any distractions and just done it at the end of season–do it that way,” Cash said. “T-Spoon reminded me of the lives of the people I’ve touched along the way, and it was good to give those people the opportunity to say goodbye and appreciate the things you’ve given to the game.”
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