Latina Legend Diana Taurasi Retiring from WNBA
FILE - Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi (3) dribbles during the first half of Game 2 of basketball's WNBA Finals against the Chicago Sky, Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File)
Diana Taurasi is one of the names you know if you follow women’s basketball. It might just be the name for a lot of little girls who grew up watching basketball in Latin America. Now, the WNBA star is putting an end to her career after 20 outstanding seasons that included 3 titles and 6 Olympic gold medals.
Taurasi, whose family is from Argentina and Italy, is the WNBA’s career scoring leader and has played her entire career for the Phoenix Mercury. She announced her decision in an interview with Time Magazine. “Mentally and physically, I’m just full,” Taurasi told Time about her decision. “That’s probably the best way I can describe it. I’m full and I’m happy.”
From three straight national titles with UConn to being the first pick of the 2004 WNBA draft to now, Taurasi redefined the game. And she’s being celebrated for it.
“I thank Diana for everything that she has brought to the WNBA — her passion, her charisma, and, most of all, her relentless dedication to the game,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said. “She leaves a lasting legacy and the future of the WNBA is in a great position because of her impact, that will be felt for generations to come.”
Meanwhile, UConn coach Geno Auriemma had even bigger words. “It’s hard to put into words, it really is, what this means. When someone’s defined the game, when someone’s had such an impact on so many people and so many places. You can’t define it with a quote,” she said. “It’s a life that is a novel, it’s a movie, it’s a miniseries, it’s a saga. It’s the life of an extraordinary person who, I think, had as much to do with changing women’s basketball as anyone who’s ever played the game.”
And the new generation of the game, embodied by Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese and Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark, reacted to the news by calling Taurasi a legend. “LEGEND. GOAT. WINNER. Thank you DT.,” Reese said on her Instagram story.
Diana Taurasi has previously spoken about how proud she is to come from an Argentine household. She was born in California to an Argentine mother and an Italian father. “I am 90 percent Argentine and Italian and 10 percent American,” Taurasi told ESPN in 2016. “At home, we ate Argentine food, spoke Spanish, watched soccer. I still have the Latino and Italian spirit.”
