If a picture’s worth 1,000 words, these reactions by the Phoenix Mercury are priceless.
The Mercury laughed in shock or cringed upon seeing photos of their younger selves’ that their social media personnel showed Diana Taurasi and her teammates in the players’ tunnel before their 90-77 home loss to the Washington Mystics last Thursday.
In a video clip posted on the Mercury’s Instagram and TikTok accounts Saturday, the Mercury’s social media team pranked the team by asking them to autograph the photos. The teammates then noticed their old photos, which included Brittney Griner’s adolescent years as a soccer player, Sophie Cunningham in her high school football uniform with shoulder pads, and Taurasi in a model glam shot with glowing earrings and a silk beige blouse.
“Y’all dead a– wrong,” Natasha Cloud said with a laughing emoji in the Instagram comments of a video.
Taurasi, known for her usual all-black attire consisting of a zip down jacket, pants, sneakers, and hair tightly pulled up into a bun, giggled at her glam photo. She immediately handed the photo back as she blushed and giggled with the permanent marker in her hand.
“This is when the WNBA used to haze us,” Taurasi said, referring to her earlier career after she entered the league in 2004.
Cunningham frequently shows up to Mercury home games in Barbie-like dresses. But as she noticed the photo of herself from when she once kicked a field goal for her alma mater Rock Bridge High School (Columbia, Missouri), Cunningham hilariously ripped it up, tossed it on the ground, and kept walking while laughing.
“Honestly, screw you guys, BUT I could out kick y’all,” Cunningham said in the comment section.
Griner was handed a photo of herself sporting two large braids and simply said, “Wow, that’s tragic” repeatedly after her initial guffaw. Kiki Herbert Harrigan’s mouth was agape with wide eyes staring at her photo. Celeste Taylor was given her Sweet 16 body shot. Monique Billings saw her high school photo and said, “Dang, y’all need to throw this one away.” Cloud, who wore a backward Philadelphia Phillies cap to the game, ran away after she saw a photo of her herself in the photo of her coiffed hairdo.
There was another video clip of Griner going deeper making fun all those photos.
“Oh! Look at Diana in a dress, with the silk on the t—-,” Griner joked.
