WNBA Legend Diana Taurasi Retires After 20 Seasons

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The most decorated player to ever set foot in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) is calling it a career.

The league and the women’s basketball landscape couldn’t thank you enough, Diana Taurasi.

After winning three NCAA championships, three WNBA titles, and six Olympic gold medals, Taurasi finally decided to hang up her jersey announced on February 26, 2025.

“Thank you Diana for changing the game forever, all of the accolades could never amount to the type of person and edge you embodied when you stepped out there on the court,” WNBA posted on their official social media accounts.

Taurasi began her legendary basketball career in the collegiate scene when she enrolled at the University of Connecticut (UConn) during the 2000-2001 season.

However, Taurasi quickly experienced the reality of competitive basketball when they lost in the 2001 Final Four playoff stage against Notre Dame.

Taurasi had a poor shooting performance and leaned on that experience to work harder in the off-season. Little did Notre Dame know that they birthed a superstar in the making.

In the following NCAA season, Taurasi and UConn completed their redemption tour, winning three consecutive collegiate championship titles that boosted her WNBA draft stock when she entered the 2004 Rookie Draft.

Taurasi was selected first overall by the Phoenix Mercury. Just like the late Kobe Bryant of the NBA, the UConn product would spend her entire WNBA career playing for a single franchise from 2004-2024.

Popularly known in the WNBA as the “White Mamba”, Taurasi brought her winning mentality to Phoenix and helped the franchise win the titles in 2007, 2009, and 2014. After 565 regular season games, she was hailed as the league’s all-time leading scorer with 10, 646 markers.

Taurasi will retire as a two-time WNBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP), an 11-time WNBA All-Star, and a 10-time member of the WNBA First Team mythical five.

“On behalf of the WNBA family, 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.  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,” said WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert.