Diana Taurasi is officially retiring from basketball, the WNBA legend told TIME Magazine on Tuesday, capping off a decorated and lengthy college and professional career.
"Mentally and physically, I’m just full," Taurasi said in the exclusive interview. "That’s probably the best way I can describe it. I’m full and I’m happy."
Taurasi's unmatched basketball career
Taurasi exits first and foremost as a winner, earning three straight NCAA championships with UConn before going as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 WNBA Draft to Phoenix, where she led the Mercury to three league titles over the course of her 20-year tenure with the team.
The 42-year-old also picked up six consecutive Olympic gold medals along the way — more than any other athlete in the sport's history. Even more, she snagged all six without ever losing a single Olympic game.
In addition to her domestic efforts, Taurasi played a prominent role in the European game, winning six EuroLeague titles as well as multiple championships with teams in Russia and Turkey.
The 2009 WNBA MVP leaves the court as the league’s all-time leading scorer and three-point shooter, as well as a two-time WNBA Finals MVP, 11-time All-Star, and a two-time NCAA Most Outstanding Player, among other individual honors.
"She has a way of making people feel connected to her, but also like the best version of themselves," Taurasi’s UConn and Team USA teammate Sue Bird — who hung up her jersey in 2022 — told ESPN after the news broke.
In a statement, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert also weighed in, calling Taurasi "one of the greatest competitors to ever play the game of basketball on any stage."
Taurasi leaves iconic legacy as she retires
Having helped build the WNBA into what it is today, Taurasi created a legacy defined not just by her resume, but by leaving the game better than she found it.
"Until someone comes along and eclipses what she’s done, then yes, she is [the GOAT]," UConn boss Geno Auriemma, who coached Taurasi both in college and on Team USA's 2012 and 2016 Olympic squads, said about the basketball superstar.
As for Taurasi, she fully expects a future player to surpass her stats, as the retiring legend continues to embody a competitor’s perspective on the game she leaves behind.
"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," she told TIME.
"That’s what sports is all about. That’s going to be fun to watch. Hopefully not soon."
Women’s sports television viewership continues to grow, with the EuroLeague and LPGA the latest examples of the boom.
The EuroLeague shattered previous highs for engagement in 2022-23, reaching 3.4 million engagements and 124 million impressions for the season. Video views also increased on their YouTube channel, nearly doubling from 25 million in 2021-22 to 48 million this year.
Among the causes for the EuroLeague’s rise is a “rapidly expanding interest from the USA,” according to FIBA. Not only was the U.S. ranked first in the EuroLeague’s audience demographics, surpassing Turkey and Spain, but their use of the league’s website increased by 133 percent in 2022-23.
“We are extremely proud to see the continued rise in popularity of EuroLeague Women. The increased digital growth shows that there is a dedicated and passionate audience that keeps building,” said FIBA Executive Director Europe, Kamil Novak.
“As always, we must continue to push forward in order to reach greater heights and help raise the profile of the women’s game in line with FIBA’s key strategic pillars.”
Meanwhile, the Chevron Championship this past weekend — the first LPGA major of the year — was the most-watched edition of the tournament since 2010. It was also NBC Sports’ most-watched Chevron Championship on record.
The final round on NBC averaged 941,000 viewers, peaking at 1.54 million as Lilia Vu defeated Angel Yin in a one-hole playoff. It was the top-rated sports program on NBC for the week, featured among the top programs for the week across all broadcast networks and was among the top 10 sports broadcasts on Sunday — despite competing against the NBA and NHL playoffs.
The viewership also marked a considerable jump from last year, when the tournament drew 349,000 average viewers on the Golf Channel.
The positive numbers are a reflection of the overall growth in women’s sports attendance and viewership, with the most recent NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament shattering TV records in women’s college basketball.
Breanna Stewart led Fenerbahce to its first ever EuroLeague women’s title on Sunday. In the process, the two-time WNBA champion broke the record for most points in a modern Euroleague women’s final and earned Final Four MVP honors.
Stewart recorded 35 points — including 26 in the first half — in the 99-60 win over CBK Mersin Yenisehir Bld. (The previous record, 31 points, was set by Diana Taurasi in 2009.)
🔥 Breanna Stewart is HER 🐐
— EuroLeague Women (@EuroLeagueWomen) April 16, 2023
26 PTS at half-time of the #EuroLeagueWomen Final as @fbkadinbasket are up by 33! 💙💛 pic.twitter.com/yvp5McThLn
While Stewart previously played for Russia’s UMMC Ekaterinburg during the WNBA offseason, the 28-year-old made the switch to the Istanbul-based Fenerbahce following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the detainment of Brittney Griner.
Stewart wasn’t the only WNBA player to star in Sunday’s all-Turkish EuroLeague basketball final. Fenerbahce’s roster also included Satou Sabally (11 points), Emma Meesseman (10 points), Kayla McBride (16 points), and Courtney Vandersloot (5 points), while CBK Mersin’s roster was highlighted by Elizabeth Williams (10 points), Chelsea Gray (9 points), and Tiffany Hayes (3 points).