Taurasi announces retirement from WNBA

PHOENIX — WNBA star and Olympian Diana Taurasi has announced her retirement from basketball. 

In an interview with Time Magazine, Taurasi said “Mentally and physically, I’m just full.”

Taurasi was drafted in 2004 and has won three WNBA championships in her career. 

Taurasi is an 11-time WNBA All-Star, three-time WNBA champion, six-time Olympian, one-time league MVP, the league’s all-time leading scorer and has even been voted as the greatest player in the 28-year history of the WNBA. 

“Diana is the greatest to have ever played the game. I’ve been a fan of her my entire life, she is the ultimate leader and teammate,” Mercury and Suns owner Mat Ishbia said in a statement following the announcement. “She’s had an incredible impact on our franchise, our community and the game of basketball. Her name is synonymous with the Phoenix Mercury and she will forever be part of our family.”

“Beyond the highlights and the accolades, Diana Taurasi is loyalty personified. She turned a city she’d never visited into her family’s home, and by virtue of her passion and play, turned legions of girls and boys, men and women into lifelong Mercury fans. To wear one uniform her entire career, like so many of her idols, is a testament to who she is and what she values. Her greatness was rooted in showing up every day – from workouts to practices to games, from signing autographs to talking to fans to meeting with sponsors,” Mercury President Vince Kozar said.

“She was at her very best when the moments were biggest and the lights were brightest, and she always embraced her impact in growing our game. She was the best possible partner in this endeavor, a friend I’ll cherish forever, and the greatest athlete in Arizona history. We are where we are today – this organization, league and our game – because of Diana Taurasi.”

In her interview with Time, Taurasi said her decision started to become clear after Jan. 1 when she would normally be preparing for training camp. 

“I just didn’t have it in me,” Taurasi said. “That was pretty much when I knew it was time to walk away.”

*Editors note: The video is from a previous broadcast*

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