WNBA’s first openly non-binary player Layshia Clarendon retires at 33

Layshia Clarendon – the WNBA‘s first ever openly non-binary and transgender player – has announced their retirement at the age of 33.

Clarendon bows out from women’s basketball 12 years after being drafted ninth by the Indiana Fever, where they spent two years before enjoying stints with the Atlanta Dream, Connecticut Sun, New York Liberty, Minnesota Lynx and LA Sparks.

They are calling time on her career as a Sparks player, albeit having not lined up for the team since August 15.

In an emotional post on Instagram, the veteran guard paid tribute to wife Jessica Dolan among many others while announcing their retirement after more than a decade in the WNBA.

‘The lesson I’ve been learning this last year is that everything comes to an end,’ Clarendon, who uses the pronouns she/her, he/him and they/them, wrote alongside a series of photos from their time in the league.

Layshia Clarendon – the WNBA’s first ever openly non-binary and transgender player – has announced their retirement at the age of 33

‘The time has come for my basketball career to end. I am deeply at peace with this choice as my mind, body, and spirit know unequivocally that it’s time to move on.

‘The saying is that athletes have 2 deaths. Our careers and our true last breaths. I can tell you, I have been deeply in mourning over this loss. I’ve loved this game with every ounce of my being.

‘Thank you to my wife. Without you, I wouldn’t have made it this long. Thank you to alllll of the dope teammates turned friends I’ve had over the years. The sisterhood is what I’ve loved about playing and will miss. The silliest things in the mundane moments.

‘The way y’all helped me fill in my mustache, made jokes about my gender, the ways I joked about my gender. The way gender is so damn fluid in our league. The way we fight to make the world better and it always started with us. The 144.’

Clarendon concluded the statement by saying: ‘While the grief is heavy the joy remains. I am so looking forward to being celebrated and loved on. I know I impacted a ton of people (or so I’ve heard, ha) if you will, please share a memory, an interaction we had, or something you loved about the way I played.

In an emotional post on Instagram, the veteran LA Sparks guard paid tribute to wife Jessica Dolan (left) while announcing their retirement

Clarendon averaged 7.6 points, 3.2 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game during their WNBA career

‘I respectfully ask you not to say “you’re going to be great in whatever you choose next.” I want to stay in the sweetness of THIS moment. Where my heart is broken and there’s tears rolling down my eyes AND I can also smile, look up and say damn I really did all of that?’

Clarendon averaged 7.6 points, 3.2 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game during their WNBA career and was named an All-Star in 2017.

During their time with the Liberty, the former California college star wore a ‘Trans Lives Matter’ shirts before publicly sharing their gender identity. That changed after they revealed the following season that they were nonbinary and transgender.

Clarendon was elected as the first vice president of the Women’s National Basketball Players Association in 2016, while also negotiating the league’s historic 2020 collective bargaining agreement; which included salary increases, improved accommodation and extra support for players with children.

Throughout their career they also tirelessly championed LGBTQIA+ inclusive policies across the league as well as racial justice.