Diana Taurasi stood in the center of the court where she achieved championships and set records during her incredible career in women’s basketball.
She tried to speak, but the fans in Phoenix quickly interrupted her. “If this is the last time …” Taurasi began before the crowd erupted into a long chant of “One more year!”
Taurasi has not decided if she will come back for a 21st season, making Thursday night’s game against Seattle possibly her final home game.
The Storm ended Taurasi’s night with an 89-70 victory, but there’s no doubt about the impact playing in Phoenix has had on her, a player often regarded as the best of all time. “If it is the last time, it felt like the first time,” Taurasi said.
Her teammates wore her No. 3 jersey with a goat (greatest of all time) graphic as they were introduced, a gesture recognizing that this could be her last game.
Even with a loud cheer during player introductions and her college coach Geno Auriemma from UConn in the stands, Taurasi treated the game like any other, high-fiving her teammates before stepping onto the court.
The game didn’t go the way Taurasi hoped, but she received one last curtain call as Mercury fans chanted “We want DT” with three minutes left in the game.
Taurasi returned to the court for less than a minute before jogging back to the bench, waving as the crowd chanted “One more year!”
“On a night like tonight, you don’t want to make it about you — you want to make it about DT,” said Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts. “This is a moment that, once you experience it, you’ll remember forever.”
The 42-year-old Taurasi finished with nine points, shooting 3-of-9 in 18 minutes. Though the game had little significance for the WNBA standings, with the Mercury set for a first-round playoff matchup against Minnesota, Taurasi gained much more from this experience.
The Mercury played a tribute video before Taurasi spoke to the crowd, and she stayed on the court, hugging people and taking pictures well after the game ended, including a long hug with Auriemma.
“It’s bittersweet in a lot of ways,” Taurasi said. “When the season is over, I’ll have a better idea of what it looks like for me in the future.”
Taurasi has been vague about retirement, not committing to anything while suggesting it might be coming soon.
The Mercury fueled retirement discussions on social media with a post last week saying “If this is it,” and another one on Thursday that featured a letter from her wife, former Mercury player Penny Taylor.
Whenever Taurasi decides to retire, her legacy in women’s basketball will already be secured.
She won three straight national championships at UConn and continued her success after the Mercury picked her first overall in the 2004 WNBA draft. She earned WNBA rookie of the year and won her first of three WNBA titles in 2007.
The Glendale, California native is one of four players to win multiple WNBA Finals MVP awards (2009, 2014) and was the league MVP in 2009. She also won six Euroleague championships while playing year-round for most of her career and earned her sixth Olympic gold medal at the recent Paris Games.
She is the WNBA’s career scoring leader, with about 3,000 more points than Tina Charles in second place, and is the top playoff scorer, as well as holding the record for the most 3-pointers made in league history.
Taurasi has also been named to the all-WNBA first team 10 times and is an 11-time WNBA All-Star, including this season.
At 42, she is still performing well, averaging 15.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 3.4 assists while leading the Mercury to the playoffs.
“There are still days where I’m like: I can still do this, I can still want to play basketball,” Taurasi said. “But then there’s days where I can barely crawl out of bed.
That’s the struggle when you’re at this point in your career; you have to do so much to get back on the court.” Taurasi will be back on the court at least twice to face Minnesota in the playoffs.
The Mercury will need to win at least one game to keep her season—and possibly her career—going, but Taurasi will go out on top no matter how it ends.
