One of the WNBA’s GOATs – if not THE GOAT – just said everyone who is already writing the obituary to her career to kick rocks.
Diana Taurasi, it appears, has no intentions of putting her jersey away anytime soon, as she revealed in a wide-ranging interview with Katie Barnes of ESPN.
I’m not stopping; I don’t feel like I should stop right now. Who knows? In six months, it could be a different story. But right now, people ask me what I want to do after basketball … I’m doing basketball right now. I’m doing everything I can to be on the court. Not to be in the front office, not to coach. My sole objective is to be on the court and to be badass. It’s just simple.
–Diana Taurasi (ESPN)
I’m going to do everything I can to play at a high level. I say this to a lot of my good friends: ‘The minute you see that I suck, tell me and I’m out.’ Instead of lying to me, someone let me know!
–Diana Taurasi (ESPN)
She averaged nearly 19 points in the 19 games she started in along with over four assists and a 91% percentage at the line. Those are not numbers that define “suck.” Those are numbers that denote “not done by a long shot.”
Not to mention, she played on a Phoenix Mercury team that last season was only one win shy of advancing to another semifinals – while playing much of the second half of the season without Brittney Griner.
A reason she is not retiring – she maintains a strong competitive edge, which was evident in a viral moment in a game against the Minnesota Lynx when after being called for a technical foul, told the referee who did so …
I’ll see you in the lobby later.
“I’ll see you in the lobby later.” 💀 pic.twitter.com/wERsx047Gi
— Diana Taurasi’s Bun (@DT3sBun) August 22, 2020
Taurasi actually did see the ref in the lobby after that game.
I literally told him that. And he said he took it a little serious. Whatever. Money (from the fine) goes to a good cause, I guess.
–Diana Taurasi (ESPN)
Of course, this season was about more than simply basketball. As the WNBA’s response to George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Jacob Blake displayed – in addition to comments made by one of its own team owners in Kelly Loeffler (Atlanta Dream), the W showed it is more than simply a collection of 144 of the best players in the world.
It is a sisterhood committed to change.
There was a moment where we took a pause, and we regathered our thoughts about why we were there in the bubble. It was nice we did it as a league and as a united front. It’s not something that’s easy to do; to get everyone on the same page and get them going in the right direction. It’s never easy, but we found a way to do it. Being a part of the WNBA for so many years, this was one of our proudest years for sure.
–Diana Taurasi (ESPN)
