'GOAT' Taurasi celebrated after potential WNBA swansong

By Sports Desk September 26, 2024

Diana Taurasi has been hailed as one of the greatest players in the history of the WNBA.

Taurasi, who is the WNBA's all-time scoring leader, has eluded that the curtain may have closed on her glittering 20-year stint in the sport.

It means she may have played her last game in the Phoenix Mercury's 101-88 loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Wednesday. 

The 42-year-old has had a storied basketball career at all levels that she has competed at, winning three NCAA National Championships at UConn early in her career. 

She then triumphed in three WNBA Championships with the Mercury and earned six Olympic gold medals, winning at every Games since 2004 in Athens. 

Taurasi has also racked up several records along the way for points (10,646), free throws made (2,517), field goals made (3,341) and three-pointers made (1,447) in a career. 

After she fouled out of Wednesday's contest, Taurasi, who finished with 10 points, left the court to a standing ovation.

A potential departure from the sport saw her teammates laud her impact in the WNBA, with Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts thankful for his time with her.

"We'll see what she decides to do," Tibbetts said. 

"It's kind of been her approach the whole way, but personally, I'd just like to thank her [as] a new coach coming into a new league. 

"The way that she welcomed me and helped me through this season. What an opportunity for me to coach the greatest ever, and I'm super thankful for that."

Taurasi still proved that age is just a number, becoming the first player in WNBA history to score 20-plus in a playoff game after the age of 40 in Game 1. 

"I've never seen somebody come in, day in, day out, do the exact same thing and add to it so she can stay on this court," Mercury’s Brittney Griner said.

"I've always said I credit a lot of my game to the way I read it, the way I can see things developing on the court, to [Taurasi].

"But I'm also lucky to take away life lessons from [Taurasi], too."

Natasha Cloud added: "[Taurasi] is one of the GOATs of this game. She will forever go down as one of the greatest to ever touch this ball."

Related items

  • Bucks still searching for complete performance, says Rivers after Cleveland loss Bucks still searching for complete performance, says Rivers after Cleveland loss

    The Milwaukee Bucks are struggling to sustain their performance levels over a full game amid their five-game losing streak, says coach Doc Rivers.

    The Bucks have failed to win since triumphing in their season opener against the Philadelphia 76ers, going down 114-113 to the perfect Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday.

    They raced into a 38-30 first-quarter lead at Fiserv Forum before tailing off badly, prompting Rivers to question their fitness.

    “We don’t sustain the game,” Rivers said. “We haven’t been able to sustain 48 minutes.

    “We’ve got to figure that out. That’s on us. We have not found the correct rotation yet.”

    Damian Lillard was unfortunate to be on the losing team after scoring 41 points with nine assists and shooting 10 of 15 from 3-point range, and he pointed out that several opponents had benefitted from having strong bench options against them.

    “I think every team that’s hurt us, they’ve had somebody come in off the bench and have an impact on the game,” Lillard said. 

    “They had a guy come in and knock down three 3s when they were bleeding and we had them down and our energy was right. He comes in and, ‘Bang, bang, bang.’"

    However, Giannis Antetokounmpo – who had 34 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists – believes the Bucks’ results will soon turn, claiming their displays have improved.

    “It doesn’t mean we’re going to go to a five-game winning streak or a 10-game winning streak,” Antetokounmpo said. 

    “But I know that we’re playing better. We trust one another better. The ball is moving. There’s a lot of good things that we can do. That’s all we can control.”

  • NBA: Mitchell's last-second jumper keeps Cavaliers unbeaten NBA: Mitchell's last-second jumper keeps Cavaliers unbeaten

    Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points, including a jumper with three-tenths of a second left, and the Cleveland Cavaliers remained perfect with a 114-113 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night.

    The 7-0 Cavaliers are one win away from matching their best start in franchise history. They won their first eight games in 1976-77.

    Giannis Antetokounmpo had 34 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists for the Bucks, who have lost five straight since winning their opener. Milwaukee wasted a brilliant performance from Damian Lillard, who had 41 points with nine assists and shot 10 of 15 from 3-point range.

    Lillard had put Milwaukee ahead by hitting a step-back jumper with 9.8 seconds remaining.

    After shooting a combined 17 of 73 on 3-point attempts in losses at Boston and Memphis, the Bucks were 18 of 39 from beyond the arc in this one. Their hot start from long range helped them build a 16-point first-quarter lead.

    After Lillard put Milwaukee ahead, Cleveland called timeout. Evan Mobley inbounded a pass to Mitchell, who caught it while barely avoiding a backcourt violation. Mitchell briefly lost control of the ball, but regained possession in 3-point range, dribbled inside the arc and hit a 19-footer.

    Thunder defeat Clippers to remain unbeaten

    Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 25 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder extended their undefeated start to the season by beating the Los Angeles Clippers 105-92.

    All five Thunder starters scored in double figures, and the six straight wins to begin the season marked the team's best start since moving to Oklahoma City from Seattle in 2008.

    Norman Powell scored 24 points and James Harden added 12 points and 13 rebounds, but the Clippers dropped to 0-4 in their new arena despite holding double-digit leads in each of those defeats.  

    The Clippers got off to a good start from 3-point range, making eight long balls in the first quarter, but went 3 for 16 the rest of the way.

    Aaron Wiggins hit a 3 to end the third quarter for an 81-78 lead, and the Thunder followed that up by scoring the first seven points in the fourth to create separation.

    Booker leads Suns to 4th straight win

    Devin Booker had 28 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, and the Phoenix Suns used a dominant third quarter to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 103-97.

    Kevin Durant scored 21 points for Phoenix, which won its fourth in a row.

    The Suns led by as many as 26 points, but the Trail Blazers cut the deficit to 99-97 in the final minute. Booker and Tyus Jones each made two free throws in the final 21 seconds to seal the win.

    Grayson Allen scored 18 off the bench, making a team-high four 3-pointers. Jones and Bradley Beal each finished with 15 points, while Jusuf Nurkic had a game-high 15 rebounds.

    Trailing 47-43 at halftime, Phoenix scored 44 in the third quarter to take a 22-point lead by the end of the period. The Suns had zero turnovers in the third quarter after committing nine in the first half.

    Booker and Allen each had 10 points in the third quarter, while Portland only managed 18 points in the period.

    Anfernee Simons and Jerami Grant led the Trail Blazers with 20 points apiece. Deni Avdija scored 13 points and former Sun Deandre Ayton had 10 points and 13 rebounds.

  • 'This defeat is on me', says Jokic after Nuggets collapse 'This defeat is on me', says Jokic after Nuggets collapse

    Nikola Jokic accepted blame for the Denver Nuggets' dramatic collapse to the Minnesota Timberwolves, whose late surge saw them win 119-116.

    Jokic's contribution of 26 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds put Denver up 116-109, after he had scored two free throws with two minutes and 30 seconds left.

    But the visitors surmounted a comeback, and the Serbian missed the chance to bring the scores level at 119-119 with 2.3 seconds left on the clock.

    The result leaves the Nuggets languishing near the bottom of the Western Conference with just two wins from their opening five matches, and Jokic took responsibility for his poor showing.

    "We had 10 or eight points in the last, I don't know how many minutes. We didn't execute, I missed basically all of my shots in the last two or three minutes," he reflected.

    "They scored easily, they had open looks. This defeat is on me. I need to do a better job of getting guys involved.

    "Today, I didn't do a good job. I had a turnover, I missed two turnaround jumpers, so it was a bad sequence for me."

    The Nuggets had started to put a run of form together with wins over the Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors in their previous two matches, but will now face Utah Jazz feeling they need a win now more than ever.

    The Timberwolves will be leaving far happier, with Anthony Edwards scoring 29 points during the victory. The guard credited the rivalry between the two teams for the grandstand finish.

    "They know when they see us, they don't like us, and I'm pretty sure they know we don't like them,” Edwards said. "It's always a great game. I love going against those guys. Plus, they have got the best player in the league, so I look forward to it."

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.