A Tribute to Diana Taurasi
All good things must come to an end. It’s corny, but it’s true. A legendary run and an ionic era of basketball is over. The greatest of all time in women’s basketball Diana Taurasi has officially announced her retirement. Taurasi played her entire 20 year WNBA career with the Phoenix Mercury after being drafted first overall out of UConn in 2004.
She won three NCAA titles in a row with the Huskies and was the most outstanding player twice, she won three WNBA titles with the Mercury including finals MVP honors in 2009. She was rookie of the year, an 11 time All-Star, a 10 time member of the All-WNBA First Team and four time member of the second team. Buckle up, there is a whole lot more. She was a five time scoring champion, led the league in assists once, and is a member of all three WNBA anniversary teams.
The dominance doesn’t stop there. She’s a six time champion of the Euroleague, a seven time Russian National League champion, a champion in the Turkish National League, a six time Olympic gold medalist, and three time World Championship gold medalist to go along with one bronze. She is the WNBA all time leader in three point shots made, the leading scorer in league history, and is the only player in the history of the WNBA with 10,000 points. That’s 20 total championships and 10 total medals and a bevy of other accolades. The greatest winner in the history of the sport.
We were all waiting for the official word after Taurasi hinted at a goodbye at the end of the regular season, but she left the door open. During the weeks of WNBA free agency we saw the Mercury load up on top talent. They had done it in the past, and especially lately trying to maximize the last years of Taurasi. But for whatever reason, it wasn’t clicking at the championship level it needed to be. Could this group of talented players be enough to coax just one more run from the icon? At the end of all of the speculation, Taurasi said she ran out of gas and decided it was time.
Nobody was safe from the verbal gymnastics of DT. Players, coaches, and even the referees. She talked a lot, but backed it up. And if try to chirp back, you do so at your own peril and she will make you pay. She embodied crazy amounts confidence before it was trendy. She clapped back at the critics before we even started using that expression. She reached the GOAT status a long time ago, but kept going because she loved it.
Taurasi and the Mercury have carried Arizona sports for years. The Suns are not a great team, this most recent victory was only the third since February 1st. The Coyotes are gone and didn’t do much when they existed. Nobody outside of the folks who live in Arizona care about the Diamondbacks. The Cardinals once in a blue moon have a really good year but they haven’t won very much either. During that time, it was the Mercury winning three championships, packing buildings, and it was Taurasi and company polarizing the world and inspiring the next generation. Some of those young athletes who grew up watching her even got to play with her near the end both in the pros and internationally. Now those players are the role models for another upcoming class of players. A lasting legacy that involved passing the torch.
If this is not the resume of a first ballot hall of fame player, then we should just shut the whole thing down. Simple as that. DT helped put the league on the map and was there for all the ups, downs, and everything in between. Every organization that DT was a part of is in a better place than before. What more can we say? We salute the greatness, bask in the glory, and show our gratitude to a true luminary of the sport.