Diana Taurasi Reveals WNBA Retirement Emotion With 3-Word Message
On February 25, news broke that basketball legend Diana Taurasi was retiring from the WNBA after an iconic 20-year career that included her being a three-time WNBA champion, a two-time WNBA Finals MVP, was an 11-time WNBA All-Star, a five-time WNBA scoring champion, a 10-time All-WNBA First-Team Honoree, and a six-time Olympic gold medalist with Team USA.
Since her retirement announcement, plenty of people in the basketball community have come out to give the legend her flowers after an unprecedented two decades playing the sport at the highest possible level.
Per usual, Taurasi preferred to stay out of the spotlight when it came to her retirement announcement, as it was made via a February 25 article from Time's Sean Gregory. But she did conduct a March 13 press conference where she opened up about some aspects of her retirement decision, including her prevailing emotion at this point.
"I am sad," Taurasi said of her retirement, per an X post from the Phoenix Mercury. "I don't show it. You know, I don't like to outwardly show my sadness, but I am sad. You know, it's the game I’ve played since I was 7. It's all the things that, in life, I always loved to do, and that was to play the game of basketball."
catching flights and feelings 🥲 pic.twitter.com/m3kFijiXCr
— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) March 13, 2025
The basketball community is also going to be sad when Taurasi isn't suited up for the Mercury's first game of the 2025 season against the Seattle Storm on May 17. However, there's no doubt that the WNBA legend will continue to show her face around the league as it learns how to move forward without her on the court.
Recommended Reading:
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
Follow GrvntYoung