Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi is easily one of the most decorated basketball players in sports history and with her 19 points Sunday in the Mercury’s 90-59 loss at Los Angeles, she now has 7,494 points in her 377 regular-season WNBA games, moving past legendary Houston Comets core killer Tina Thompson’s 7,488 in 496 games. Taurasi also has scored 995 points in 47 career playoff games.
Diana Taurasi breaks WNBA’s all-time scoring record
Phoenix Mercury star Diana Taurasi is now the No. 1 scorer in WNBA history.
Turasi has been winning and getting buckets and leading teams to distinguished heights for a minute. The Chino , California hoops Queen began her rise at Don Antonio Lugo High School, where she was the recipient of the 2000 Cheryl Miller Award, presented by the Los Angeles Times to the best player in Southern California. As one of college basketballs all-time crushers , she led UConn to three straight National titles.
The all-world guard won three WNBA chips in 2007, 2009 and 2014 and is a league MVP and two times WNBA Finals MVP. We could go on forever and fill three sheets of paper with Taurasis accomplishments, but while we are celebrating her ascension to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar status, we can’t forget her four Olympic gold medals and five scoring titles that followed her 2004 WNBA Rookie of the Year Award.
UConn Women’s Hoops on Twitter
Big congrats to the incomparable @DianaTaurasi, who became the @WNBA’s all-time leading scorer today! #GOAT
Taurasi has always brought an edge to the womans game. She has mega swag, shes lights out in the clutch and she will shoot it from anywhere. Shes one of those women who take it as a compliment when cats say Taurasi..Yeah, shes a beast. She balls like a dude.
However, Taurasi is a woman that most men can only dream of balling like. Her skill set and track record says Hall of Fame in any league, anywhere. As cocky as she is on the court, her humility off the court and the principles of team first and accountability instilled in her by legendary UConn coach Geno Auriemma has elevated her to a Top 20 all-time standing in a game that includes such former greats as Cynthia Cooper ,Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie and of course Thompson, just to name a few.
“Tina Thompson being the leading scorer, that’s a big, big deal,” Taurasi said of Thompson, who was a key cog in the WNBAs first dynasty, winning four titles. “Tina was a great player. It’s the kind of stat that people talk about and that matters. And it will matter to the next person who passes it, and the next person after that.”
Diana Taurasi Mix | “Out Here Grindin”
Diana Taurasi, aka the G.O.A.T. Hope you all enjoy the vid. DT’s highlights are endless.
Taurasi turned 35 on June 11 which is considered old by basketball standards. She may have lost a slight step and she uses more crafty veteran maneuvers than sheer talent to get by these days, but shes still winning and shes still one of the most popular players in the game. Shes been through it all and she values those qualities that build winning teams and winning chemistry over any statistic.
Personalities are just as important as talent on teams,” Taurasi said. “There have been teams I’ve played on that, frankly, weren’t very good talentwise. But everyone was on the same page trying to get the same things done, and you can live with that.
“Then there have been teams with different agendas, which ripped the fabric of just wanting to win. And then you’re too busy fixing yourself and your team, instead of working on beating other teams. That’s when things become very difficult.”
As long as Taurasi has that attitude and her incomparable three-point prowess, the old head will be getting buckets for as long as the old head wants to keep playing. She now has 933 career treys, including four 3-pointers Sunday.
Theres nothing left for Taurasi to prove, but plenty more to accomplish if she so chooses. Shes already given the game of basketball all thats she got.
