While Taurasi hasn’t outright said she’s retiring after this season, there was a sense of finality in the air on Thursday night.
Diana Taurasi hasn’t said she plans on retiring following the 2024 WNBA season, but that didn’t stop the Phoenix Mercury from celebrating her in the team’s final home game of the regular season on Thursday night.
The Mercury made custom t-shirts and jerseys for Taurasi, pulled her out for a curtain call late in the contest, had her speak the crowd postgame and put together an emotional tribute video.
Dear Dee –
Love,
All of Us pic.twitter.com/SnO1q10Fdp— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) September 19, 2024
Those close to Taurasi showed up, too. Geno Auriemma, Chris Dailey and Morgan Valley all traveled from Storrs while Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe were in attendance, as were Taurasi’s parents.
If this is it, we finish what we started together. pic.twitter.com/U2HJwuGFRf
— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) September 20, 2024
Through it all, Taurasi never revealed her plans from the future. Instead, she’ll decide after the playoffs.
“I think once the season’s over, I’ll have a better idea of what it looks like for me in the future,” Taurasi said postgame.
“As soon as we win this championship, this decision will come quick,” she added later.
There was still a sense of finality in the air on Thursday night. At one point, the crowd began cheering “One more year!” when Taurasi remarked: “I think they tricked Sue with that,” referencing Bird’s decision to play an additional season in 2022 after fans in Seattle chanted the same thing at the end of the 2021 campaign.
If this is the end, Taurasi has the resume to be considered the greatest women’s basketball player of all time. After winning three national championships at UConn, she was drafted No. 1 overall by the Phoenix Mercury, where she’s spent the entirety of her 19-year career. Taurasi has won three WNBA titles to go with a record six Olympic gold medals and three World Cups. She’s the league’s all-time scorer and 3-point leader as well.
Taurasi’s quest for a fourth WNBA championship will begin on Sept. 22 when the 7-seed Mercury take on the 2-seed Minnesota Lynx in the first round of the playoffs.