The GOAT, who used to practice shooting baskets on a bullhorn, is finally hanging up the horns.
On the same day that basketball legend Diana Taurasi announced her retirement from the WNBA via TIME magazine, college sensation Paige Bueckers was on the cover of GQ Hype.
From one UConn Husky to another, consider this the passing of the torch—or at least a rolled-up magazine.
Besides, it was clear Taurasi wasn’t going to pass it to Caitlin Clark, the real next great in the W, just like her Paris 2024 Olympic roster spot.
That’s just her competitive nature in all its glory.
The Phoenix Mercury legend and lifer’s jersey will rise to the rafters for all that this ‘Dirty Diana’ has done to show she’s the baddest, like Michael. Anyone. Jordan. Jackson.
Like LeBron in the basketball brotherhood, this GOAT is the all-time leading scorer in the history of the Women’s National Basketball Association. The other numbers are there too: three by six—three college championships and six Euroleague titles in Turkey and Russia—before the latter did her Phoenix Mercury teammate, Brittney Griner, so wrong.
Three WNBA titles.
Six gold medals at the Olympic Games.
Athens, Beijing, London, Rio, Tokyo, and don’t forget about Paris.
She was a teammate of recently retired Seattle Storm legend Sue Bird in college and in Europe, not to mention, competing all around the world as an Olympian.
But when these co-GOATs became rivals in the W, that’s when things really became interesting.
“Mentally and physically, I’m just full,” Taurasi told TIME, conjuring up words akin to her close confidant Kobe Bryant’s ‘Dear Basketball’ letter for The Player’s Tribune that turned into an Oscar-winning animated short.
Growing up in Cali, she’s Hollywood herself—a member of the Goon Squad in “Space Jam 2.” The White Mamba’s legacy was as white-hot as her Mercury jersey, her body of work, or even ESPN’s ‘The Body Issue’.
A genuine game changer.
The resume speaks for itself. Grade this top scorer on a curve—or should we say, arc? Diana from downtown is also the WNBA’s all-time leader in three-pointers made and fourth in total assists. Don’t pass up the 2009 WNBA MVP or Taurasi’s two Finals Most Valuable Player awards.
It’s all twos and threes again, like her point production—once, twice, three times a EuroLeague MVP, not to mention three big Russian Player of the Year awards.
Just seeing her transcend the game, watching little girls want to play like her, her style, her flair, her bravado, you know, her swagger—it’s been an unbelievable treat.
She’s one of the all-time greats, and she will leave her mark on the game of basketball the moment she ties those shoes up and throws them over the pole line. It’s been an honor. All love.
That’s what The King said about a friend, a fan, and a foe of his Toon Squad.
That’s not all, folks!
Diana Taurasi follows fellow University of Connecticut legend Maya Moore into retirement, making Geno Auriemma’s alumni the Coach K Duke Blue Devils of the women’s college court.
And with another one of those Huskies ready to howl at the moon, the UConn connection is complete.
Now, tell me. Have you ever seen one of these dogs with horns?
