Mercury sign 2021 WNBA leading scorer Charles

The Phoenix Mercury have signed former WNBA MVP Tina Charles. 

Charles is an eight-time All-Star, three-time Olympic gold medalist and nine-time All-WNBA selection. In 2021, she led the WNBA in scoring with a career-high 23.4 points per game. 

The No. 1 pick in 2010 by the Connecticut Sun, the 33-year-old has also had stints with the New York Liberty and Washington Mystics. 

Phoenix is coming off their fifth WNBA Finals appearance in 2021, losing to the Chicago Sky in four games. 

“Tina is an elite talent in our league and adding a player of her caliber is another example of our commitment to our fans and players to pursue a championship every year," said Mercury general manager Jim Pitman. "Tina has made it clear that she wants to win and wants to do so in Phoenix. For us, this move is about adding absolute top-end talent into our frontcourt which already features what we consider the most dominant player in the game in BG and the league’s best defender in Brianna Turner. We expect to be able to play all three fewer minutes which should benefit us in the playoffs.”