First Episode of Taurasi Docuseries is a Must-See

The first episode of the Diana Taurasi docuseries takes at how her childhood and college career molded the sports legend we know today.

Jul 16, 2025; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Diana Taurasi on the red carpet before the ESPYS at The Dolby Theatre. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Taurasi, the new Amazon Prime documentary series chronicling the career of women's basketball legend Diana Taurasi is out now and the first episode was a great watch. Longtime Phoenix Mercury fans are undoubtedly familiar with her exploits and accomplishments in the WNBA, but the the series premiere was a fun look into her early years and the experiences that molded her into the inimitable superstar she would eventually become.

From the opening shot, her trademark charisma is on full display, as she ribs a member of the camera crew, and that energy carries over throughout the rest of the episode. It's the same confidence and charisma that fans saw on the court and that endeared her to her college coach.

Jan 27, 2020; Hartford, Connecticut, USA; 2020 USA Womens National Team guard Sue Bird (6) (left) and 2020 USA Womens National Team guard Diana Taurasi (12) before the game against the UConn Huskies at XL Center. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images / David Butler II-Imagn Images

Parts of the documentary focus on her family and her upbringing, split between southern California and Argentina, where her parents were from. Her family was tight-knit and did basically everything together. Taurasi was a multi-sport athlete as a kid but her parents, who both had to work to make ends meet, couldn't take her to soccer and basketball, so she had to choose one. She went with basketball, which would eventually become the center of her life, and never looked back.

The connection between her and her college coach at UConn, Geno Auriemma, is a blast to see on screen. The famously hard-driving Auriemma found his muse in Taurasi, a player with the intensity to match his own and the talent to carry out his vision on the court. The two of them bonded during her recruitment process over their shared Italian heritage (Taurasi is Italian-Argentinian) and their family-centric approach. Taurasi described him as her "uncle," saying "he just understood the way I grew up."

She arrived on campus with oodles of talent, but lacking in the discipline that Auriemma would later instill in her. She said she saw the court as a canvas on which she could improvise and create. "I'd throw paint. I could throw whatever I wanted, she said," but the reality of college ball reined her in.

Her first season on campus was a rollercoaster, going from hardly playing, to shining as a freshman for one of the most talented teams in the nation, to having one of the worst games of her life in the Final Four, before transforming into the Taurasi we know today, leading UConn on an undefeated revenge tour en route to a national championship the following season.

Aug 11, 2024; Paris, France; United States shooting guard Diana Taurasi (12) celebrates after defeating France in the women's gold medal game during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Accor Arena. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-Imagn Images / James Lang-Imagn Images

The documentary makes it clear that the people around her could tell she was different. It wasn't just her unique and at times flashy style of play on the court, nor was it her ability to drive her youth teams to win major tournaments. Her personality -- brash and bold -- made her stand out at a time where women in sports faced the same expectations women faced elsewhere in society.

When DT arrived in the WNBA, it was to a league very different from the one we know now. Players were expected to present as straight and traditionally feminine, to "grow the league," which she went along with reluctantly so she could focus on hoops, even though she "didn't feel like herself," according to her mother.

The episode closes with Taurasi deciding to follow former college teammate Sue Bird to Russia to earn the money she felt she deserved. She was only making $42,000 when she entered the W. Not only does it show far the league has come, but how far it still has to go. After all, player pay is once again a hot button issue as negotiations over the new CBA go on.

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