Will Diana Taurasi end her career? WNBA legend enters playoffs uncertain

PHOENIX – Diana Taurasi has not yet officially announced her retirement after 20 years in the WNBA – including with the Phoenix Mercury alone – but with the start of the playoffs on Sunday, the end feels near.

You know she's at least thinking about it. As Bruce Springsteen said during a recent performance on stage, she won't just come back next season to say goodbye.

“I'm not going to do any (farewell) tours,” Taurasi said recently when asked during a press conference at the Footprint Center. “When I leave, I just leave. Don't we always just leave?”

Sometimes.

“She’ll be there until I retire,” her much younger teammate Brittney Griner said almost wistfully.

Don't count on it. Griner is 33, Taurasi 42. Both will be free agents at the end of the playoffs, a first-round series for the Mercury that begins Sunday in Minnesota.

Griner joined the Mercury when Taurasi was already established as a generational WNBA player. They were on the team that won the 2014 WNBA title and have played together ever since, except for the harrowing season Griner spent in a Russian prison two years ago.

“When I came here, she was already leading us as a game director,” Griner said of Taurasi. “When she says something, you can see how everyone is involved. That's something I always appreciated – when she coached me on the side or helped me. I was young and naive and learned a lot.”

Taurasi came to the WNBA as a pioneer, well aware that she will leave the league at a time when it is reaching new heights. The record-setting play of rookies Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese this season has put the league on an accelerated trajectory. By all accounts, the money being invested in the WNBA for marketing, ticket sales and media rights is pouring in. And the attention has also increased.

“It's been an incredible journey,” Taurasi said. “This league was founded in 1997 and for three years every building was sold out. For some reason it lost some of its momentum.”

The momentum is back. Taurasi added that she feels no sadness that age and wear and tear are forcing her to leave at such an important time. Her friend and fellow UConn player Sue Bird retired two years ago after 21 seasons in Seattle. Bird was the same age as Taurasi is now.

When you “just get going,” as Taurasi said, “and you're at it for a long time, you always want to leave it better, and that's where it is right now. This thing is in a great position in terms of attendance, coverage, people on all the social platforms, being on TV. I think it's at a point where it can only get better.”

So far, salaries have not kept pace with that growth. The league's salary cap per team this season was $1.46 million. Taurasi's salary of $234,936 wasn't even the highest on the team, according to Spotrac. Kahleah Copper earned $245,059. Taurasi earned $1.15 million in her entire career as a WNBA player.

For comparison, Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns, Taurasi's NBA counterpart, will earn $49.2 million next season. He plays in the same building and on a team also owned by Mat Ishbia.

Ishbia is entering his second full season as owner of the Suns and finishing his second as head of the Mercury. He just opened a $100 million, all-cash training facility for the Mercury south of the arena in downtown Phoenix, putting the women on par with the men's training facility. Ishbia said when the building opened in July, days before Phoenix hosted the WNBA All-Star Game, he hoped the rest of the league would follow suit.

“It's an investment I've made and we've made as an organization for the Mercury,” Ishbia said. “We're going to move forward. The investment in basketball and the community isn't going to stop.”

That is for others to enjoy, not Taurasi, whose name was engraved for posterity on the basketball practice courts and unveiled on the day the facility opened.

Taurasi wore his uniform when the Mercury won all three titles, and was named Finals MVP in two of them. The 10th anniversary of the 2014 victory was celebrated on Sept. 13 with the return of most of the players to Footprint. The Mercury, seeded No. 7, enter the playoffs with underdog chances at another title, but Taurasi knows exactly what to do.

If the Mercury lose both games at Target Center, their season is over. Their potential last home game would have been last Thursday night in the final game of the regular season. If they tie, Footprint is scheduled for a decisive third game on Friday night.

“You just believe you're going to keep winning,” she said. “As we all know, there are always twists and turns in sports, whether it's injuries, free agents, people wanting different roles, coaching changes. There are always different things. There's never a guarantee you'll get back there or even win.”

It's no offense to Griner and Taurasi to say they're exhausted. On the night of the anniversary, the Mercury were beaten by the Connecticut Sun. They made 6 of 33 three-pointers and Taurasi made 1 of 7 for a total of seven points.

Taurasi said that as she got older, she tried to adjust her diet and training to keep up with the younger players, “but it didn't work that night,” she joked. A leg injury sidelined her for four of the Mercury's first 39 matches, all before the Olympic break. Still, she played a supporting role in helping Team USA win another women's gold medal, their fourth and final.

But even as she considers her departure, Taurasi is popular with teammates and opponents alike.

“You have to respect the experience, love and passion that she brings to the game,” Atlanta Dream coach Tanisha Wright said recently. “For younger kids, it's really a good opportunity to learn who you're playing with, but sometimes you definitely have to just sit back and enjoy the ride.”

This ride could soon be over. After the playoffs? Next season? Only Taurasi really knows.

“This league is tough. It takes its toll, both physically and mentally,” she said. “I never thought I would play for 20 years.”