Diana Taurasi retires: Ranking the candidates who could break the WNBA’s all-time scoring record

Diana Taurasi announced her retirement on Tuesday, bringing her historic career to a close after 20 seasons, three championships, two Finals MVPs, an MVP, six Olympic gold medals and countless accolades, including the WNBA’s all-time scoring record. 

Taurasi became the first player to reach the 10,000-point mark in 2023, and finished her career with 10,646 points. No other player has even scored 8,000 points, and Taurasi is nearly 3,000 points ahead of Tina Charles, who moved into second place on the all-time scoring list last season (7,696 points). 

It’s going to be a long time before anyone threatens Taurasi’s record, which is just fine with her. 

“My scoring record, or the six gold medals, someone’s going to come around that has the same hunger, the same addiction to basketball, and put those records in a different way, a different name,” Taurasi said. “That’s what sports is all about. That’s going to be fun to watch. Hopefully not soon.”

Eventually, someone will catch Taurasi. In fact, there will probably be many who do so decades down the line. The current players simply have too many advantages. 

First and foremost, the seasons are longer. When Taurasi entered the league in 2004, the regular season was 34 games, and it stayed that way until 2019. But ever since the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign, the number of games has gradually been increasing. The first 40-game regular season happened in 2023 and that number will rise again to 44 in 2025. 

If you take Taurasi’s first 16 seasons, the period where the number of games was steady at 34, she had a maximum of 544 regular season games available. A player who enters the league in 2025 will reach 544 possible games in their 13th season, and would have 704 possible games over 16 seasons. And that’s if the league doesn’t increase the number of games again, something Cathy Engelbert has mentioned as a possibility. 

Furthermore, there’s far more scoring these days, thanks largely to the proliferation of the 3-point shot and an increased emphasis on pace. The basketball being played in the WNBA now is almost a different sport to what was happening on the court when Taurasi turned pro. 

Here’s a look at the difference in the league leaders in three key categories — points per game, pace (possessions per game) and 3-point attempts per game — from Taurasi’s rookie season in 2004 to her final season in 2024. 

To put the 3-point rise into context there were three teams in 2004 (Washington Mystics, San Antonio Silver Stars and Detroit Shock) that took 8.3 3-point attempts or fewer per game. In 2024, there were three players (Caitlin Clark, Arike Ogunbowale and Sabrina Ionescu), who took more than 8.3 3-point attempts per game. 

If we can all agree that someone will eventually surpass Taurasi, the more interesting question then becomes who will be the first to do so? Let’s take a look at some of the candidates. 

Charles

Career points: 7,696Career scoring average: 17.92024 scoring average: 14.9Points needed: 2,951

Bonner

Career points: 7,482Career scoring average: 14.92024 scoring average: 15Points needed: 3,165

We’ll group the 36-year-old Charles, who already sat out the 2023 season while contemplating retirement, and 37-year-old Bonner together because they’re in a similar situation. As the closest active players to Taurasi’s record, they deserve a mention, but age is a concern. 

Both would have to play well into their 40s, while staying healthy and producing at a high level the entire time, to have a chance. It seems unlikely either will do so. 

Career points: 6,502Career scoring average: 16.52024 scoring average: 16.7Points needed: 4,145

Next up on the active scoring list is Ogwumike, the 2016 MVP and nine-time All-Star. What she lacks in big numbers she makes up for with consistency. While she’s never averaged 20 points per game in a season, she’s also never dipped below 13.3 points and has been over 15 points in nine of her 13 seasons. 

Age is the biggest issue for the 34-year-old Ogwumike. Let’s give her six more seasons, which would take her to 40 years old. In that scenario, she would need to average 691 points per season, which is more than her career-best. She’ll have more games moving forward, of course, but again, it’s hard to see her staying healthy and productive enough to catch Taurasi. 

Career points: 5,572Career scoring average: 17.72024 scoring average: 17.8Points needed: 5,075

Griner has turned into more of an offensive player later in her career, but she won’t be the one to catch Taurasi. She’s too far behind and too injury prone. (Griner has only played more than 31 games in a season three times and hasn’t done so since 2018.) 

Career points: 5,536Career scoring average: 16.92024 scoring average: 19.7Points needed: 5,111

We arrive now at Jewell Loyd, the 2023 scoring champion who had the single-season scoring record (939 points) until her new teammate, A’ja Wilson, broke it last season. Though her efficiency has dropped off a cliff in recent years, her volume has skyrocketed. 

If Loyd had stayed in Seattle, where she could pretty much take as many shots as she wanted every night, she would probably be the top pick. Her move to Las Vegas, where she’ll be the new face on an established contender with the reigning MVP, complicates matters. We don’t know yet what her role in the offense will look like, or how she’ll bounce back from a poor 2024. 

Even so, Loyd has a chance to be the one who breaks Taurasi’s record. For one, she’s only 31 years old. Two, she’s been very durable throughout her career, missing just 13 regular season games in 10 years. Three, she’s regularly among the league leaders in 3-point attempts (11th last season) and free-throw attempts (second last season). Four, she’s a guard so she has the ball in her hands and gets to make decisions. 

For argument’s sake, let’s say Loyd plays eight more seasons, taking her to age 38. She would need to average 639 points per season to set the record. At 38 games per season (allowing for some missed time), that’s 16.9 points per game. For comparison, Taurasi scored 14.9 points per game and 538 points as a 42 year old last season. 

Perhaps the biggest determining factor is whether Loyd has a few more really big scoring seasons in her before she hits her mid-30s. She’s likely going to need some 750-800 point campaigns, not only to pass Taurasi, but to do so before Breanna Stewart, who is right on her heels. Loyd is capable, but will she get enough shot attempts in Vegas to make it happen? That remains to be seen. 

Breanna Stewart (Liberty)

Career points: 5,419Career scoring average: 20.82024 scoring average: 20.4Points needed: 5,228

Right behind Loyd on the active scoring list is her former Storm teammate, Stewart, whose career scoring average of 20.8 points is the third-highest in WNBA history. In just eight seasons, the 30-year-old Stewart is already 23rd on the all-time scoring list. 

From a scoring perspective, there’s no question Stewart has the skills to pass Taurasi. She’s averaged at least 20 points in four consecutive seasons, has a high usage rate (at least 27% every season since she was a rookie) and gets to the line regularly (third in attempts per game last season). 

In each of the last three seasons, Stewart has zoomed past the 700-point mark, and there’s no reason to think that will change in the next couple years, especially with a 44-game schedule. Stewart is only 117 points behind Loyd, which essentially puts them in a dead heat. She’s been a more consistent scorer, both throughout her career and in recent years, and has a more secure offensive role, which would seem to give her the advantage. 

However, Stewart’s previous injury history raises some questions. She missed the entire 2019 season after tearing her right Achilles tendon, and missed the end of the 2021 season after injuring her left Achilles tendon, which, while not a complete rupture, later required surgery. Stewart has been healthy since then, but how will she age? That has to be at least a slight concern when you’re looking seven to eight years (at least) down the line. 

If you could guarantee Stewart’s health, she would probably be the pick, but, of course, you cannot, which opens the door for others. 

McBride

Career points: 4,835Career scoring average: 14.42024 scoring average: 15Points needed: 5,812

Diggins-Smith 

Career points: 4,822Career scoring average: 16.52024 scoring average: 15.1Points needed: 5,825

McBride (32) and Diggins-Smith (34), who played together at Notre Dame, are the next two on the active scoring list. Neither has a chance. McBride doesn’t score enough and Diggins-Smith is too old and too far back — not only of Taurasi, but of some younger active players.

A’ja Wilson (Aces)

Career points: 4,782Career scoring average: 21.12024 scoring average: 26.9Points needed: 5,865

Now here’s where it gets interesting. Wilson is a scoring machine. Her career average of 21.1 points per game is the highest in league history, and in 2024 she became the first player in league history to have a 1,000-point season. Though still only 28 years old, she’s already 10th on the active scoring list and 31st all time. 

The three-time MVP already has a Hall of Fame resume, and she’s the first person on this list that you can say with total confidence will end her career with more points than Taurasi. 

Wilson is almost never hurt — when she sat out against the Liberty last season it was her first missed game since 2019, and ended a streak of 172 consecutive appearances. For her career, she’s missed 11 games in seven seasons. And when she’s on the court, she’s nearly impossible to stop. Her 26.9 points per game last season earned her the scoring title and the highest single-season average in league history. 

Las Vegas doesn’t want Wilson to have to carry that sort of load this season, but even if she isn’t putting up nearly 27 points a night, she seems like a lock for the 21-23 range for the foreseeable future. Even if you take the low end and allow for some missed time, Wilson should easily be hitting the 800-point mark going forward. 

In the long-run, Wilson’s age is a plus, and her incredible start to her career means she has a real chance to be the all-time leading scorer by the time she retires. But in terms of being the first player to catch Taurasi, her age is a negative. She’s a little less than a season’s worth of points behind Stewart and Loyd. Even if you assume she’ll outscore them in the years to come, can she do so by a big enough margin to make up that difference?

Hayes

Career points: 4,623Career scoring average: 13.22024 scoring average: 9.5Points needed: 6,024

Vandersloot 

Career points: 4,278Career scoring average: 102024 scoring average: 6.4Points needed: 6,369

Not happening on either front. 

Arike Ogunbowale (Wings)

Career points: 4,014Career scoring average: 20.62024 scoring average: 22.2Points needed: 6,633

Last but not least, we come to Ogunbowale, who is 12th on the active scoring list and the final active member of the 4,000-point club. She scored 19.1 points per game as a rookie, which at the time was the fourth-best scoring season by a rookie all time, then won the scoring title in her sophomore campaign and hasn’t looked back. 

Still just 27 years old, she’s another that seems almost certain to surpass Taurasi’s mark some day. She’s never been a super efficient player, but she’s not afraid to get shots up, especially from behind the arc, and has been durable throughout her career. 

The issue is Ogunbowale faces an even worse version of Wilson’s problem. She’s a very good season’s worth of points behind Wilson and about two strong seasons behind Stewart and Loyd. Making up that ground is going to be quite difficult, especially with the No. 1 overall pick (likely Paige Bueckers) coming in this spring. 

Ogunbowale is close enough to the main contenders that she could jump into the mix in the event of injuries or a sudden drop off from any of the stars ahead of her, but for now she should be considered a longshot. 

Ranking the candidates 

There are 12 active players with at least 4,000 career points. Due to age, role and place on the list, we’ve ruled out eight of them: Tina Charles, DeWanna Bonner, Nneka Ogwumike, Brittney Griner, Kayla McBride, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Tiffany Hayes and Courtney Vandersloot. 

That leaves us with four names who could be the first player to break Taurasi’s record. Let’s go through from least likely to most likely. 

4. Ogunbowale

Not out of the picture, but too far behind at the present time. 

3. Loyd

Coming off the least efficient season of her career and unclear what her role will be in Las Vegas. Cannot be written off, but has more question marks than the others. 

2. Stewart

If she was a bit further ahead of Wilson, she may have gotten the nod. But 637 points isn’t a big enough lead given her major injury history and the fact that Wilson has a higher scoring ceiling. 

1. Wilson

Wilson is coming off the best scoring season in league history, is in her absolute prime and has a near spotless health history. She has some ground to make up, but her recent dominance and durability make her the safest bet.