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."

The Phoenix Mercury’s season ended Wednesday night with a 101-88 loss to the Minnesota Lynx in Game 2 of a first-round WNBA play-off series.

The loss may have also ended the illustrious career of Diana Taurasi.

The 42-year-old hasn’t officially said she will retire, but she alluded to retirement while addressing Mercury fans after the team’s regular-season finale last Thursday.

“If it is the last time, it felt like the first time,” she said from centre court.

If this was her final game, it caps one of the most decorated careers by an American basketball player.

As the winner of an incredible six Olympic gold medals, Taurasi secured her first gold at the 2000 Athens Games and her most recent at this summer’s Paris Games.

She also won three straight American collegiate national championships at UConn in 2002, 2003 and 2004, another three WNBA titles in 2007, 2009 and 2014, and six Euroleague championships.

Her entire WNBA career was spent with Phoenix after being selected first overall in the 2004 draft.

She made an immediate impact, winning rookie of the year honours in 2004 and was named league MVP for the 2009 season.

A 10-time all-WNBA first-team selection, Taurasi was named to her 11th WNBA All-Star Game this past season and would have almost certainly been chosen to more, but there were no All-Star Games in 2004, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2016 or 2020.

She’s the WNBA’s all-time leader in points scored – about 3,000 more than the next-closest player in Tina Charles – the top scorer in the WNBA play-offs, and is the league’s all-time record holder in 3-pointers made.

Despite concluding her 20th season in the WNBA, she is still playing at a high level.

She averaged 14.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists in the regular season before scoring 21 points on 5-of-10 shooting from 3-point range in Monday’s 102-95 loss in Game 1.

Taurasi had 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting with four rebounds and three assists before fouling out with 2:34 remaining in Game 2.

She left to a standing ovation from the Minnesota crowd before Napheesa Collier, who tied a WNBA playoff record with 42 points for the Lynx, came over to the Mercury bench for a brief handshake with her fellow UConn star.

If Taurasi ultimately decides to call it a career, she’ll be remembered as one of the greatest women’s basketball players in history.