Phoenix Mercury and WNBA legend Diana Taurasi has retired from professional basketball after 20 WNBA seasons (21 professional years total).
Taurasi played for the Mercury every year since 2004 aside from one season (2015) during which her Russian Premier League team (UMMC Ekaterinburg) paid Taurasi to not lace up for Phoenix that season. In her time in the WNBA (all with the Mercury), Taurasi won three WNBA Finals championships and two WNBA Finals MVP awards.
Regarded by many as the best player in WNBA history, Taurasi was the subject of congratulations from people all over the sports world via social media. One of the more notable was her Mercury teammate of six years — guard Sophie Cunningham:
Taurasi was named the WNBA’s Most Valuable Player in 2009. She is a five-time WNBA scoring champion.
Mat Ishbia, the owner of the Phoenix Mercury for two years now, showed immense appreciation for Taurasi on X (formerly Twitter):
Geno Auriemma was Taurasi’s college head coach at UConn, where they won three national championships together. A two-time Naismith award winner under Auriemma, Taurasi was coached again by Auriemma for the U.S. Olympic team. They won three gold medals together.
Auriemma had lots to say about what Taurasi meant to him, and the game of basketball in general. UConn’s women’s basketball’s Instagram account posted his statement after she retired:
Taurasi was a 14-time All-WNBA selection. Ten of those selections were first-team selections. The guard shot lifetime averages of 42.5/36/87 on shooting splits, and scored 18.8 points per game.
Beyond social media, basketball greats had lots to say after Taurasi’s retirement, too. NBA legend LeBron James not only had an appreciation for her performance and career, but noticed others doing the same:
Taurasi began her WNBA journey as the WNBA’s 2004 Rookie of the Year, a first-team All-WNBA selection and a top-three finalist for WNBA MVP. She ended her WNBA journey an All-Star still averaging 14.9 points per game.
She spent 21 years on top of the world’s professional basketball scene, and while the basketball world is sad to see her hang up her jersey, it at least will go straight to the rafters.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Basketball icons show Mercury star Diana Taurasi love after retirement
