WNBA: Phoenix Mercury veteran Diana Taurasi shares update on retirement decision

The 2024 WNBA season concluded with the New York Liberty finally lifting the trophy after a thrilling, yet controversial, Game 5 of the Finals. After a year that saw the league break records in attendance, viewership, and overall attention, WNBA legend Diana Taurasi has provided an update on whether she will continue playing for another season.

Speaking to The Associated Press, Taurasi said “I don’t take retirement lightly. I know the minute I say it or announce it, whether it’s, you know, in a month or two months, I’m going to mean it.” She added that she will talk with her wife Penny Taylor and the Phoenix Mercury as she is “still in the thought process.”

“I have not taken it lightly. I think about it every day. You know, I’m still in deep thought about it. I want to make the right decision, you know, and I’m just taking my time a little bit,” the 42-year-old Taurasi said. “And you know, sometimes when the season ends, the last thing you want to think about is the next season.”

Taurasi’s season ended when the Mercury were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Minnesota Lynx. However, fans and her teammates paid tribute to her during their last home game, in which the veteran became the oldest player in the WNBA and NBA history to score more than 20 points in a playoff game.

The mark was just the latest of an prolific professional career which started when she was drafted first overall by the Mercury in 2004, winning the WNBA Rookie of the Year award. Over the years, Taurasi has led the Mercury to three championships (2007, 2009, 2014), as well as becoming the league’s all-time leading scorer.

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Taurasi has said that she isn’t interested in ‘farewell tours’

Previously, Taurasi has expressed that she isn’t interested in having ‘farewell tours’ and when she decides to announce her retirement date, that will be it. “When I go, I’ll just go,” she told the press during the Playoffs. However, that doesn’t mean that she won’t be involved in basketball in some capacity.

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She told the AP that she is curious about becoming a team owner. “I definitely love the idea of being able to have a position where obviously you influence a team,” she said, while explaining that Mercury and Suns owner Mat Ishbia has been an inspiration. “The things to which he’s done with the team, it’s really the next step, I think, for female athletes,” she added.