The Phoenix Mercury’s playoff streak has come to an end, and now it’s time for the franchise to look to the future. The team’s run of 10 consecutive postseason appearances officially ended with a loss to the Dallas Wings on Sunday, though the outcome was expected for much of the season.

Phoenix lost 10 of 12 games to start the season before parting ways with head coach Vanessa Nygaard in late June. They battled injuries, and All-Star Brittney Griner missed several games on mental health leave stemming from her 10-month detainment in Russia last year. Meanwhile, veteran guard Skylar Diggins-Smith, who had a career-best season in 2022-23, has been out on maternity leave.

The cards were stacked against the Mercury from the start, and they couldn’t overcome the bevy of challenges.

Interim head coach Nikki Blue said Sunday that her team would focus on winning their remaining games, despite being out of the playoffs but in the running for the top pick in the draft lottery. She also admitted that the team did not live up to the standard previously set in Phoenix.

After falling to the Atlanta Dream 94-76 on Tuesday, the Mercury have games against Connecticut, Minnesota and Washington before closing their season with two contests against first-place Las Vegas.

“It was a season that was not ideal,” said Blue, who served as an assistant coach before assuming the interim role.

Phoenix has also struggled with off-court issues this season surrounding Diggins-Smith. The six-time WNBA All-Star averaged 19.7 points, 5.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game for the Mercury last season after helping them reach the Finals in 2021. But in 2022, Nygaard attempted to downplay rising tensions between her and Diggins-Smith over comments she made around the All-Star Game. And during a game, Diggins-Smith and Diana Taurasi had to be separated during a heated exchange on the bench.

This year, in early August, Diggins-Smith expressed concerns with how the Mercury have managed her maternity leave. Her comments on social media came in response to a fan who questioned why the Mercury did not wish Diggins-Smith a happy birthday on their social media accounts.

“They’re not gonna acknowledge me this year and it’s OK guys,” Diggins-Smith wrote. “We’re not affiliated unless it’s the checks….per management. I can’t even use the practice facility or any resources.”

Diggins-Smith, who gave birth to her second child earlier this year, later clarified that “resources” includes “massage therapists, chiropractor, chefs, strength and conditioning, and nutritionists.”

The Notre Dame product will be a free agent in 2024, and the recent events make it hard to envision her re-signing with Phoenix.

Meanwhile, future Hall of Famer Diana Taurasi became the first player in WNBA history to reach 10,000 career points this season. She is nearing the end of her career, though she has a year left on her contract with Phoenix and remains tight-lipped about a potential retirement.

Taurasi has been the center of Phoenix’s offense since she was drafted by the franchise in 2004. The 41-year-old is being paid $234,936 this season and next, before becoming a free agent in 2025.

The Mercury need to start looking toward the future, especially if they want to capitalize on Griner’s resurgence. She helped Phoenix to a WNBA title in 2014, and the 32-year-old can serve as a centerpiece for several more seasons if the Mercury surround her with talent.

Phoenix will be one of four teams in the lottery with a chance at earning the rights to the top draft pick in 2024, where they could select Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, Cameron Brink, Angel Reese or another top college prospect. Despite being at the top of mock draft boards, all four players could come back for a fifth season due to an eligibility rule stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, which canceled their freshman seasons.

But before Phoenix turns to the draft, the organization needs to decide if Blue is the coach for the job. The former UCLA player was an assistant coach for four college programs between 2008 and 2022 before joining the Mercury staff last season.

“I hope that they’ve seen the transition that our team has made in the time that I’ve been head coach,” Blue told reporters on Sunday. “Once we get a full roster, I would like to see what we can do with that.”

Phoenix has gone 7-16 since Blue took over.

Eden Laase is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @eden_laase.

Brittney Griner came to celebrate Diana Taurasi’s 10,000-point milestone Thursday even as she takes time away from WNBA competition to take care of her mental health.

Griner donned Taurasi’s No. 3 jersey and cheered on her Phoenix Mercury teammate as Taurasi became the first player to reach 10,000 career points with a monster 42-point performance. After the game, Griner could be seen dancing behind Taurasi and mouthing, “That’s 10,000 points!” while her teammate was being interviewed.

Of course, Griner has joked with Taurasi before. Back in April, she poked fun at Taurasi’s age in her first press conference since returning from her unlawful detention in Russia in 2022. Griner, 32, and Taurasi, 41, have been teammates since the former joined Phoenix as the No. 1 overall pick in 2013.

“Playing with D — who wouldn’t want to play with a walking fossil?” Griner said with a laugh. “Ha, she’s gonna kill me. No, I’m just so glad. I was really worried. Legit, I was worried. I thought she was gonna retire on me, or I was going to miss it, and that, honestly, was killing me knowing that was a possibility.”

Griner’s exuberance in celebrating Taurasi’s milestone was a wonderful show of support by the nine-time All-Star. Griner has been putting up big performances this season herself, but she has missed the Mercury’s last three games to focus on her mental health.

The Mercury are committed to working with Griner on a timeline for her return, the team said Saturday.

Diana Taurasi became the first WNBA player to reach 10,000 career points Thursday night. And then she kept going.

The 41-year-old guard finished with 42 points in the Phoenix Mercury’s 91-71 win over the Atlanta Dream, a career high for points scored in regulation. With her first 40-point game since 2010, she also became the oldest WNBA player to drop 40-plus points.

Yet even after her milestone night, the latest in a long long of broken records for Taurasi, she kept her accomplishments in perspective. Eventually, someone, someday will take her place.

“I think it is just pushing the limits,” she said after the game. “I said it earlier – when you love something and you are passionate about something, you push the limits. It is not my record. It is not my number. It’s going to be a number that will be broken at one point by someone that loves basketball as much as I did and is willing to give up moments that you take for granted for moments that are legendary.”

For now, though, she’s going to enjoy the moment, particularly as she reflects on the journey that got her here.

“I wouldn’t change a thing. Every moment led to another moment,” she said. “It started in my driveway. It really did. It was just innocent. It was naive. There was no goal. There was no plan. There was no speaking English. It was just a kid who liked to play basketball in her front yard.

“Sometimes you forget that it is supposed to be fun. As the years have gone by, I have to keep reminding myself that when you do something you love, it is not your job. It is not work. It is just your passion.”

Mercury interim head coach Nikki Blue shared in the moment. Blue, 39, has known Taurasi since their AAU basketball days, and she found herself in awe when Taurasi hit the 10,000-point shot.

“I told her that I was proud of her. It’s funny because she is older than me, but we’ve known each other since 16-years-old playing AAU basketball together,” Blue said. “To see her growth and to dominate this sport and to represent the way that she does — it’s not about me, but it was special for me to be able to witness that and to coach her tonight. I thanked her and told her I was proud of her. She was amazing tonight.”

After all, Taurasi didn’t just pass the milestone. She dominated, turning in a vintage Diana Taurasi performance.

“I’ve never seen anything like that before. For her to show that she’s still at the top of her game, it was really a sight to see,” Blue said. “Just to be able to witness this tonight was truly special and only the way the Diana Taurasi could do it. Forty-two points at 41-years-old? You guys! We have never seen anything like this. It was so much fun.”

Diana Taurasi sees herself riding off into the sunset upon her eventual retirement from the WNBA.

When asked if she would transition into coaching after the end of her playing career, the 41-year-old guard was firm about her future.

“Coach? No, no, no, no. Not coaching this generation, nope, nope, nope,” she said. “I am transitioning more into like, living on an island with a lot of coffee.”

As Taurasi closes in on the 10,000 point milestone (9,881) in her 19th WNBA season, she also is closing in on the end of her career. Her contract runs through 2025, with Taurasi inking a multi-year extension in February. But the 10-time All-Star and former league MVP knows her time is coming to join the likes of Sylvia Fowles and Sue Bird, both of whom retired after the 2022 season.

“Probably not much longer,” she said of her time remaining in the league. “All good stories come to an end. It’s about wrapping up.”

But while Bird has remained close to the WNBA – including sitting courtside at Wednesday’s Mercury game – Taurasi doesn’t envision that for herself.

“I probably won’t be around much,” she said.

Phoenix Mercury interim head coach Nikki Blue picked up her first win Thursday as the team snapped a six-game losing streak with an 85-63 victory over the Indiana Fever.

“Their energy level was at an all-time high,” Blue said of the players. “It was very fun basketball to watch and even more fun to coach. As much as I credit us as coaches putting it together, it was all these players. They make our jobs easy on nights like this.”

Mercury veteran Diana Taurasi had 17 points, one of her best performances of the season. Following the game, Taurasi talked about Blue’s first win as a head coach.

“We’ve all been through it together,” she told reporters after the game. “It’s been refreshing the last couple of days, of trying to reset as a group and coach has been the main factor in that. It’s been really good trying to move forward. … It’s just a credit to her hard work.”

Taurasi also spoke for the first time about the departure of Vanessa Nygaard, who was fired on June 25 after a 2-10 start to the season.

“The last few years has not been easy in a lot of ways for our franchise, for our team,” she said. “I thought Vanessa did an incredible job of always keeping her cool, always keeping the team together.

“I don’t pick the coaches here. I think people think I do a lot here but I play and the GM and management, they made decisions, what’s best for our team. And I think going forward, that’s what they were thinking. So, I have great respect for Vanessa and I’m sure she’ll find a way to get back in coaching because that is her passion and her love and I learned a lot from her.”

The Mercury have had a “renewed sense of confidence” amid the coaching change, Blue said earlier this week. While the coach did not know what to expect when she took the helm, players have “exceeded my expectations,” she said.

After her first win, she outlined her journey over the last year, which included being passed over for the Arizona State head coaching job in 2022 before she joined the Mercury.

“I’ve been through so much coaching. And it’s not about me, but a year ago, in March, I was assistant coach at ASU,” Blue said. “Charli Turner Thorne said she was retiring, wanted to hand over the program to me. … They actually found a phenomenal coach. But to be told that I checked all the boxes except one, which was head coaching experience, was difficult for me since I was so bought into that school and I wanted that job.

“For us to get this win, it just reminds me of that saying, ‘God doesn’t call on the qualified, he qualifies the called.’ … So all I needed was an opportunity and … a great team to have my back. I’m so grateful we got this win and I got my first win as a head coach, and I’m truly appreciative of that.”

Turner Thorne is joining the Mercury as an assistant on Blue’s staff, the team announced Friday.

The Phoenix Mercury (2-6) had their roughest night yet amid a rocky start to their season, as Diana Taurasi went scoreless and Brittney Griner exited with an injury in Tuesday’s 83-59 loss to the Seattle Storm.

“We have got to get our chemistry together, because if not, it’s gonna be a long, long season,” Phoenix guard Sophie Cunningham said after the game.

Taurasi was held scoreless for just the fifth time in her 19-season career, and for the first time since 2019.

Griner, who leads the team with 20.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, finished with just two points and missed the second half with a hip injury. The 6-9 center was coming off a season-high 29 points in Sunday’s 85-82 win against the Indiana Fever.

While the Storm gave up just nine turnovers, they forced 16, and Seattle rookie Jordan Horston had her first-career double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds.

“Turnovers were definitely a factor – unforced ones,” Phoenix head coach Vanessa Nygaard said. “We’re gonna look at the game, see what we can do better, and be ready for our next game. … Without having BG in there, that hurts our rebounding.”

As for Taurasi, Cunningham thinks the officiating in the game hampered the veteran guard in the loss.

“I’ll have D’s back,” Cunningham said. “I think she’s getting screwed on a lot of calls. She’s the GOAT of our game. I’m probably gonna get fined. It’s honestly embarrassing… They’re worried about the wrong things. Focus on what you do and call it. She’s put in enough time, enough blood, enough sweat and tears, that you gotta give her a little bit respect  If I was a ref, I’d be pretty embarrassed.”

And Nygaard backed her up: “There’s just enough clips we’ve put together from the same game, similar cut. The calls — D doesn’t get them. It’s just tough right now. She gets frustrated.”

In spite of the issues with the officiating, the Mercury – who made the playoffs last season and were in the WNBA Finals the season before – are looking to turn their season around.

“I’m tired of losing,” Cunningham said. “I’m ready to catch a rhythm with our team. Enough is enough. Our vibe has got to change. Our energy’s gotta change. … But you’ve got to show up, keep working hard. Eventually things will turn around. These times right here is what makes the high’s really high and exciting.”

The Phoenix Mercury will be making adjustments to their travel plans for the WNBA season after star center Brittney Griner was confronted by a right-wing YouTuber at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on Saturday.

Diana Taurasi called the incident, which occurred as the Mercury were heading from Texas to Indiana for the next game of their road trip, “disrespectful” to Griner, the team and the league. The Phoenix guard also pushed for the WNBA to take action to protect its players.

“That can’t happen,” Taurasi said after Sunday’s 85-82 win against the Indiana Fever. “The safety of everyone comes first. You know basketball is secondary to all that. People have families, kids. To be put in that situation really is disrespectful, to not only BG, but to our team, to the league.

“So hopefully they can take steps to make sure that the security of our players throughout the league is at the forefront.”

Mercury forward Brianna Turner, who initially called out the incident Saturday on social media, said on Sunday that the experience was a “huge disappointment.”

“I mean, I don’t blame the league, obviously no one could’ve predicted this,” she said. “But at the same time, I think more measures could have been in place, absolutely.”

The confrontation rattled the players, Turner said.

“It was startling to show up to the airport to have people waiting at your gate to just totally (disrupt) your day and follow you around on the airport, shouting and causing a scene,” she said. “That’s obviously nothing anyone wants to deal with, especially on a business trip for work, representing the league, the city of Phoenix, our organization.

“And in times like that, we don’t want to throw phones or yell and say things back, so we kind of have to take it. I guess you live and learn, but I don’t know … if it happens again, what do we do next? I’m not really sure of that answer yet.”

The Mercury will make travel adjustments that “maybe should have happened before,” head coach Vanessa Nygaard said before Sunday’s game.

“Right now, we’re going to prioritize the safety of our players,” she said, though she did not provide details of the changes.

The WNBA said in a statement Saturday that Griner had been approved to fly private charter for games this season, and that they had informed the Phoenix Mercury earlier this year “to move ahead with any arrangements they felt were appropriate and needed, including charter flights.” But there may have been uncertainty over whether the Mercury were allowed to pay for all of the charters, the WNBPA told ESPN on Sunday.

New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart, who made charter flights a key piece of her free agency negotiations, called the incident “traumatizing” for WNBA players.

“I think that player safety should be first and foremost,” Stewart said. “Everyone was aware that BG coming back to the WNBA this season was going to be a little bit different. A lot more eyes, a lot more publicity, positives and negatives, and wanting to make sure that she’s protected at all times.

“The fact that she wasn’t (protected) yesterday, I think it’s a little bit traumatizing for all of us to think about. Because we feel for her and we want her to be safe and know that when she’s with us, she should be able to be herself. So I think that there needs to be extra precautionary measures taken, I don’t think anyone is against BG having charter flights whenever she wants so that she can be herself and travel and be comfortable and be safe.”

WNBA players across the league have addressed the incident, renewing calls for league-wide charter flights.

“This is something that we’ve been talking about months before the season started and it’s just frustrating that we have to go through something like this to have more change,” Stewart said.

Fever guard Emma Cannon, who is a friend and former teammate of Griner, was angered by what happened.

“I’ve seen the little snippet of the video, and that’s upsetting,” Cannon said. “We as a league deserve to be treated as our standard has been. WNBA players, the top 144 players, we should be charter.”

And Fever coach Christie Sides said she would like to see the issue of charter flights in the WNBA can get worked out sooner rather than later.

“That was really unfortunate, what happened, I really hate it,” Sides said. “That’s a CBA thing, you know, where the league, when they change their mind and we’re able to get those charter flights, it’ll be awesome. Hopefully, that’s sooner than later, but that’s all in the league.”

Turner will likely be part of driving that change as a vice president of the WNBPA.

“Players are really supportive of us and making sure that BG is safe,” Turner said. “Obviously, we want the best for all players traveling. … I don’t want any other team to go through what we went through, and hopefully we don’t go through that again.”

Diana Taurasi is taking year 19 in the league just as seriously as year one.

She spends the most time in the weight room, and the relentlessness of her training is just as much – if not more – than it was when she was just entering the league.

“Everything I do my whole life is to make sure I can be on the court,” Taurasi told ESPN. “And it’s exhausting.”

It’s a necessity for Taurasi, who knows that at 40 years old more must be done to maintain the level that she’s grown accustomed to.

“I think that’s probably the biggest thing to committing to playing during the summer,” Taurasi added. “It’s really committing to play for nine months. I’m not going to play without all this. I just know how much work you have to put in to be at a certain level, and if you don’t, it’s going to show.”

“At this point,” she continued, “if I half-ass it, it’s not going to look pretty nor will I feel good about it, and I’m just selling myself short and my teammates short.”

Once fully healed from the quad injury that she suffered at the end of last season, she was back training six days a week. But it wasn’t just basketball – her training included massages, acupuncture, cups and soft tissue work before exercises and Pilates in the weight room. Only after all of that would Taurasi take the court.

“I’m just f—ing too competitive of myself,” Taurasi said. “Anytime I’m like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to do this,’ I go to the gym. It’s probably not healthy.”

And Taurasi’s attitude is contagious for those around her.

“She gives me a different perspective of what 40-year-olds can do,” teammate Brianna Turner said. “When I see 40, I don’t think professional basketball player, but Diana has definitely proven that wrong.”

For Taurasi, signing a two-year contract extension in February is about finishing her career right.

“Personally and as a team, that’s just not the way I wanted to go out,” Taurasi said of last season. “I still wanted to play. I still love to play. I still felt really good. I feel like there were times I could do anything on the court that I wanted to and there were times where I didn’t feel that way.

“So, now, the goal is to do that every night.”

Diana Taurasi and Elena Delle Donne have seen the hype surrounding the New York Liberty and the Las Vegas Aces.

But even as the superteams generate excitement, the former WNBA MVPs are not counting out their own squads.

When asked if the expectations heaped on the Liberty and the Aces had lessened the pressure for the Phoenix Mercury, Taurasi pushed back, noting that pressure comes from within each player and each team.

“I put pressure on this team every day to come in and be its best,” she said. “The one thing that I have learned is you can’t control the narrative.”

The Liberty and the Aces dominate the betting odds for the 2023 WNBA championship, with New York at +130 and defending champion Las Vegas at +110 to win the title, per FanDuel sportsbook.

Still, the 40-year-old guard, who is entering her 19th WNBA season, expects this campaign to be one of the toughest yet.

“I think it’s going to be one of the most competitive seasons we’ve had in a long time,” Taurasi said.

Delle Donne’s Mystics sit a distant third in title odds at +1400 as training camp begins. But the 33-year-old sees a full 40-game season ahead rife with possibilities.

“There’s some people that would think, ‘Just fast-forward to the end of the season and let those two compete for the championship,'” she said. “But that’s something we’re excited to make our mark and do what we’re going to do.

“The best movies, the underdog ends up on top. Remember that.”

With less than a week until WNBA training camp opens, Brittney Griner is getting back to being the player she was before her wrongful imprisonment in Russia, according to Diana Taurasi.

Taurasi told ESPN on Tuesday that she thinks Griner has “gotten better” and progressed in training ahead of her 10th league season. Griner missed last season while she was detained in Russia for nearly 10 months on drug charges. After she was convicted and sentenced in August to nine years in a Russian penal colony, the 32-year-old was released in December via a prisoner swap negotiated by the Biden administration.

Upon her return home, Griner was quick to announce her intention to play for the Mercury this season, signing a one-year deal with the team in February.

“I think she’s gotten better,” Taurasi told ESPN on Tuesday. “Yeah, I think she’s progressed. I mean, when you don’t do anything for 10 months, yeah, it’s a long strain on your body — mentally, physically.

“But every week you just see her getting a little bit better.”

During scrimmages, Griner has shown glimpses of her old self, Taurasi says. The two won a WNBA championship together in 2014, and Griner has led the league in scoring twice in 2017 and 2019.

“You see her do things [and you’re like] ‘Oh, oh, OK. Spin move baseline. I remember that.’ Or getting a block,” Taurasi said. “So, there are all these little moments that she keeps stacking up and it’s going to be a big training camp for her to get back where she wants to go. But, we’re all here helping and hopefully we could all do it together.”

Having Griner back with the team, Taurasi says, has been “great.”

“I mean, there’s no one like her in women’s basketball,” Taurasi said. “How she affects the game with her size, and I think what gets lost is how good she is on the block and all those things. …

“And she went through something that no one else has gone through. So, she’s going to have to find a way to navigate the attention, the eyes, the publicity, the mental strain of having all that and still getting back into basketball form. It’s a lot. It’s a lot. But hopefully when she comes here, this is home for her, right? It’s all she knows.”