Phoenix Mercury’s Diana Taurasi has announced that she will be retiring. The six-time Olympic gold medalist is the WNBA’s all-time goal scorer and a fan favorite. Christian Pietersen/Getty Image hides captions
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Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Diana Taurasi is a Phoenix Mercury Guard, a 20-year American women’s basketball giant at 6 feet tall and retired.
Taurasi, 42, made the presentation in an interview published Tuesday on Time Magazine. “I’m just full, both mentally and physically,” she told time. “That’s probably the best way I can explain it. I’m full and I’m happy.”
Taurasi leaves the WNBA as perhaps the most decorated player in women’s basketball history. She was named the most valuable player in 2009, with an 11 All-Star. She won Mercury three WNBA titles, six Olympic gold medals for Team USA, and led university team UConn Huskies to three NCAA championships. She was the fastest to reach 5,000 career points and the only one to reach 10,000. She remains the league’s greatest goals scorer ever.
Her retirement wasn’t a complete surprise. After Mercury’s final home game last September, Taurashi took him to court to talk to fans, chanting “One more year.”
“I want to thank all the coaches, all the players, everyone who rode in the WNBA jerseys, because it takes the village,” Taurasi said. “For everyone who played before this league, I am grateful to everyone because I have the place I am now and thankful to the next generation.”
The WNBA existed for just eight years before Taurasi was drafted. Now, at the end of her career, the league and sports are in a much healthier place. An average of 1.6 million viewers watched the thrilling final series between New York Liberty and Minnesota Links. The surge in attendance signed last year and the new media rights agreement signed have cost more money in team pockets. Three new franchises are poised to join the league over the next two years.
“Diana Taurasi is one of the greatest competitors to play a basketball game on any stage,” WNBA commissioner Kathy Engelbert said in a statement. “I would like to thank Diana for everything she brings to the WNBA. Her passion, her charisma and, above all, her relentless dedication to the game.”
Now, the league’s biggest young star, Caitlyn Clark, is 23 years old, who once considered Taurashi as her idol. Shortly after the news broke, Clark posted the news of Taurasi’s retirement on Instagram with one word caption “Legend”.
