Miranda Ayim: Canadian pioneer announces retirement from basketball

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Miranda Ayim, Canada Senior Women's National Team, Tokyo Olympics

Miranda Ayim has decided to call it a career.

One of the most important figures in Canadian basketball, Ayim took to Twitter Monday afternoon to announce that she has officially retired from the game of basketball, sharing a heartfelt note of acknowledgements along with her Tweet.

"Thank you, Canada, my birthplace and forever home," Ayim wrote. "I'm so proud to have been able to end my career bearing your flag at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics."

Having competed in London in 2012 and in Rio in 2016, Ayim retires after representing Canada on the Olympic stage for the third time. Being a three-time Olympian is just one of many accolades achieved during Ayim's career, which took off during her time at Saunders Secondary School in London, Ontario.

Following a successful high school career, Ayim decided to attend Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA, where she was a four-year letter winner, setting the school record with 182 career blocks, while also scoring over 1,000 points in her career.

Ayim's professional career began in Turkey in 2010 and also included a brief stint with the WNBA's Tulsa Shock in 2011.

In 2013, Ayim began her next chapter as a professional in France when she joined Toulouse before moving to Basket Landes in 2015. She spent the last six seasons of her professional career with Basket Landes, a part of her career she touched on in-depth with NBA.com's Carlan Gay earlier in the year.

"Making sure that I put myself into positions that are aligned with my values has enabled me to enjoy those moments more than if I was just miserable in a space where I knew I wasn't supposed to be, and I was just literally playing for a paycheck," Ayim told NBA.com in April. "I've been able to really enjoy my career and make a second home here (France) because I was really conscious about where I was putting my time and energy."

Through conscious efforts to channel her time and energy, Ayim has made a positive impact on the game of basketball – both in Canada and worldwide. 

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Gilbert McGregor is an NBA content producer for The Sporting News.