Let’s get it back to the WNBA.

Rough week for the league, with Wilmington native and Delaware Blue Hen Elena Delle Donne finding herself in an incredibly difficult position.

Long story short, the reigning league MVP has Lyme Disease, which she says compromises her immune system. Therefore, if she gets COVID-19, she might end up in worse shape than you or I, even though she’s a young and otherwise healthy professional athlete.

Monday, a panel of doctors denied her the ability to opt out of this season due to her medical concerns, which she says goes against the advice of her personal physician.

From ESPN:

“The independent panel of doctors the league appointed to review high-risk cases have advised that I’m not high risk, and should be permitted to play in the bubble,” Delle Donne said in a statement released to ESPN on Monday.

“I love my team, and we had an unbelievable season last year, and I want to play! But the question is whether or not the WNBA bubble is safe for me. My personal physician who has treated me for Lyme disease for years advised me that I’m at high risk for contracting and having complications from COVID-19,” Delle Donne added in her statement.

Seems like a simple dispute between medical professionals, which is one thing, but the kicker here is that she’s still allowed to opt out, but wouldn’t be paid her salary. That’s the result of the panel decision.

In a column written for the Players’ Tribune, Delle Donne went into more detail about Lyme Disease, explaining that she takes 64 pills per day and more or less defending herself while raking the WNBA over the coals.

A snippet from that story:

The doctor who treats my Lyme disease wrote up a full report, detailing my medical history and confirming my high-risk status. The Mystics team doctor (who is awesome, but who’s never treated my Lyme disease) wrote a report essentially deferring to my Lyme disease doctor, and agreeing about my high risk profile. I filed both reports to the league, as required, along with a signed form waiving my right to an appeal.

A few days later, the league’s panel of doctors — without ever once speaking to me or to either of my doctors — informed me that they were denying my request for a health exemption.

I’m now left with two choices: I can either risk my life….. or forfeit my paycheck.

…

I don’t have NBA player money. I don’t have the desire to go to war with the league on this. And I can’t appeal.

So what now? Does the WNBA just hold firm? The public seems to be siding with Delle Donne, based on what I’ve been hearing and reading online. And even if the WNBA stands pat and defers to their panel of doctors, the fact of the matter is that the league’s best player won’t be on the court this year, which is not what anybody is looking for. This would be like the NBA telling Giannis to either play or forfeit his pay check. Imagine this kind of dispute involving Patrick Mahomes or Mike Trout or Nikita Kucherov. Disastrous, it would be, and all over the talk shows.

Bummer of a situation for both sides. Maybe there’s a compromise here, or maybe not. We’ll see.