Times when I wanted to fight her

Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon and Diana Taurasi have had numerous battles in the WNBA. With Taurasi’s retirement after 20 years in the league, Hammon looked back at the times when their competitive spirits clashed with one another but they remained civil and friendly right after.

Hammon revealed that Taurasi has a switch in his competitive spirit, comparing her to other basketball greats. She also recalled an instance when Taurasi’s cut-throat attitude got the best of her in a friendly exchange.

“She’s a maniac. She has what I call the switch … She got that switch. Kobe had the switch, Michael had the switch, where it was like you step between those four lines,” Hammon said.

“I mean there were times I wanted to fight her. And then she’d be like, ‘You want to go and get a beer?’ I’m like, ‘No, I want to kill you right now.’ Because she had that switch. That competitiveness where she sees only winning,” the Aces coach added.

Hammon and Taurasi have played against each other for over 10 years when Hammon was still a player for the San Antonio Silver Stars and the New York Liberty. Hammon was drafted into the WNBA in 1999, five years before Taurasi.

Taurasi, meanwhile, spent all of her 20 years in the league with the Phoenix Mercury.

The two women’s basketball legends also played against each other in Russian leagues during the WNBA offseason early in Taurasi’s career.

Taurasi won three WNBA championships for the Mercury, in 2007, 2009 and 2014. While Hammon failed to win a title as a player, she led the Aces to back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023.

Even in her final season in 2024, Taurasi remained a valuable contributor to the Mercury, averaging 14.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. However, she fouled out in her final game against the Minnesota Lynx in the playoffs.

Becky Hammon said Diana Taurasi had the ‘X factor’

For many years, Diana Taurasi was one of the faces of the WNBA. For Becky Hammon, this was because of Taurasi’s x-factor, which, she said, made her one of the greats in the sport.

“She’s just got that ‘It’ factor … She has had it since day one … and she’s just continued to be great. I think she has really elevated the level of this league. What she has accomplished throughout her career, I don’t think there’s enough adjectives,” Hammon said.

Not only did Taurasi help the league grow in her career, but she was pivotal in the national team’s sustained dominance on the international stage, winning six straight Olympic gold medals in her career.

With Taurasi’s retirement, the Mercury is expected to go on a rebuild, also due to the departure of center Brittney Griner.

Edited by Akshay Saraswat