Diana Taurasi

Diana Lorena Taurasi (born June 11, 1982) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and is considered to be one of the greatest players in WNBA history.

Taurasi attended Don Antonio Lugo High School, where she graduated in 2000.

Next, she enrolled at the University of Connecticut where she attended from 2000-2004 and then took a break from school to enter the Women's National Basketball League draft, play in the Olympics, and then return to finish her first season in the WNBA.

In high school, Taurasi was the recipient of the 2000 Cheryl Miller Award, presented by the Los Angeles Times to the best player in Southern California.

She was also named the 2000 Naismith and Parade Magazine National High School Player of the Year, and the 1999 and 2000 Ms. Basketball State Player of the Year.

Taurasi finished her prep career ranked fourth in state history with 3,047 points.

Taurasi was named a WBCA All-American.

She participated in the 2000 WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored twelve points, and earned MVP honors.

Following a highly decorated high school career, Taurasi enrolled at the University of Connecticut and began playing for the women's basketball team during the 2000–2001 season.

Taking the court primarily at point guard and shooting guard, she led the team to three consecutive NCAA championships.

Leading up to the final championship, her coach, Geno Auriemma, would declare his likelihood of winning with the claim, "We have Diana, and you don't."

Taurasi also received many personal accolades at UConn including the 2003 and 2004 Naismith College Player of the Year awards, the 2003 Wade Trophy, the 2003 and 2004 Honda Sports Award and the 2003 Associated Press Player of the Year award.

In addition to the national recognition she received while at UConn, Taurasi was held in legendary status by many Connecticut fans.

For example, state senator Thomas Gaffey nominated her to join Prudence Crandall as the state's heroine.

She averaged 15.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game in her collegiate career.

During her time at UConn, her team compiled a record of 139 wins and 8 losses.

She was drafted by Phoenix first overall in the 2004 WNBA draft.

Taurasi has won the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award (2004), three WNBA championships (2007, 2009, and 2014), a historic five Olympic gold medals (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020), one WNBA Most Valuable Player Award (2009), two WNBA Finals MVP Awards (2009 and 2014), five scoring titles (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011), and three FIBA World Cups (2010, 2014, and 2018).

She has also been selected to ten WNBA All-Star teams and fourteen All-WNBA teams (including ten first-team selections).

Following her collegiate career, Taurasi was selected first overall in the 2004 WNBA draft by the Phoenix Mercury, a team that went 8–26 in the 2003 season.

At times in her career, she had to play forward because there were shorter players in the starting five on her team.

However, she mainly plays guard.

Also, right before the 2004 season, the Mercury acquired all-star Penny Taylor in a dispersal draft, to strengthen their roster.

In her WNBA debut, Taurasi scored 22 points in a 72–66 Mercury loss to the Sacramento Monarchs.

For the season, the rookie averaged 17.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game.

In 2005, Taurasi went back to college and earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Connecticut.

As a first-generation college student, the first in her family to graduate from college, Taurasi described pride in earning her degree which she said, "meant just as much as any championship ring, banner or gold medal".

In 2006, Taurasi was a member of the inaugural class of inductees to the University of Connecticut women's basketball "Huskies of Honor" recognition program.

In 2011, she was voted by fans as one of the WNBA's Top 15 Players of All Time, and was named by the league to its 20th and 25th anniversary teams, respectively the WNBA Top 20@20 in 2016 and The W25 in 2021.

Also in 2021, she was selected by fans as the league's greatest player of all time.

On June 18, 2017, Taurasi became the WNBA all-time leading scorer and on June 27, 2021, became the first player to surpass 9,000 points.

On August 3, 2023, Taurasi became the first player to score 10,000 career points.

Her penchant for scoring in crucial situations has earned her the nickname "White Mamba", coined by Kobe Bryant.

Taurasi is one of 11 women to win an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA Championship, a FIBA World Cup, and a WNBA Championship.

Taurasi grew up in Chino, California.

Taurasi's father, Mario, was raised in Argentina.

He was a professional soccer player in Italy and played for several years as a goalkeeper.

Taurasi's mother, Liliana, is Argentine.

Mario and Liliana Taurasi emigrated from Argentina to the United States before Diana was born.

She has an older sister named Jessika.