Lexie Hull watched on as the Indiana Fever finished the 2026 WNBA preseason with a 2-1 record, ending with a 105-57 win over the Nigeria women's national basketball team. Now, the Fever will be getting ready for their regular-season opener on Saturday, facing Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Hull has become an important player for the Fever over the past four years, averaging 7.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 2025. Entering the offseason as a free agent, Indiana elected to re-sign the guard to a two-year deal, but she was forced to miss all three preseason games with a hamstring injury. And while Hull is expected to return for the Fever in Saturday’s matchup, another WNBA star has called it quits for good.
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Tina Charles, after winning two national championships with the UConn Huskies, was selected by the Connecticut Sun with the No. 1 pick in the 2010 WNBA Draft. She spent her first four seasons with the Sun before departing for the New York Liberty in 2014, where she spent the next six years. At the tail end of her career, she had brief stints with several teams, including the Washington Mystics, Phoenix Mercury, Seattle Storm and Atlanta Dream, before returning to Connecticut in 2025.
While Charles never won a WNBA championship, the center will still go down as one of the best women’s basketball players ever. Not only did she earn nine All-WNBA selections and the 2012 MVP award, but she also set the league record for most career rebounds with 4,262 and recorded the second-most career points with 8,396, trailing her former Mercury teammate Diana Taurasi.
But on Saturday, Charles decided it was time to hang it up, announcing her retirement from the WNBA at the age of 37.
"Today, I officially announce my retirement from basketball," Charles wrote on Instagram. "Fifteen years at the professional level and a lifetime of love for this game. I’ve experienced the highest highs and lowest lows, and I’m thankful for all of it. Through it all, I learned how to show up. When doubt got loud and narratives were written without me, I kept showing up. That’s the New Yorker in me, where resilience is built, not talked about."
Hull took notice of the future Hall of Famer's retirement, showing her support to Charles in the comments with three emojis: "🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻."
Hull and the Fever will face the Wings on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. ET, before taking on the Los Angeles Sparks the following Wednesday.
