| Full Name | Diana Taurasi |
| Age | 39 years (born 11 June 1982) |
| Nationality | American |
| Height | 6 ft (1.83 m) |
| Weight | 163 lb (74 kg) |
| League | WNBA |
About Diana Taurasi
Diana Taurasi is an American basketball star, player for Phoenix Mercury of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). In the 2004 WNBA draft, She was among of players, drafted by Phoenix first overall. In 2011, Diana was voted by the fans as one of the WNBA’s Top 15 Players of All Time, and also named by the league to its 20th and 25th-anniversary teams, respectively the WNBA Top [email protected] in 2016 and The W25 in 2021.
Diana was selected by fans as the league’s greatest player of all time, in 2017, she became the WNBA all-time leading scorer and on 27 June 2010, she became the first player to surpass 9000 points. She was also considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time. Diana was nicknamed “White Mamba” by Kobe Bryant due to her penchant for scoring in a crucial situations.
Diana Taurasi Early Life
Diana Taurasi was born in 1982 and grew up in Glendale, California, and also played basketball at Don Antonio Lugo High School. Her father, Mario was raised in Argentina, he was also a soccer star in Italy, played for several years as a goalkeeper. Her mother Liliana is Argentinian, later on, Diana’s parents emigrated from Argentina to the United States before she was born. Diana had an old sister named Jessika.
Diana Taurasi Career
Diana’s career started while she was at Don Antonio Lugo High School where she was the recipient of the 2000 Chery Miller Award that was presented by the Los Angeles Times to the best player in Southern California. She was named the 2000 Naismith and Parade Magazine, National High School Player of the Year, and also the 1999 and 2000 Ms. Basketball State Player of the Year
Diana was named a WBCA All-American, she also participated in the 2000 WNCA High School All-America Game, scored 12 points, and earned MVP honors.
College Career
Diana enrolled at the University of Connecticut where she began to play for the women’s basketball team during the 2000-2001 season. Taking the court position as a point guard and shooting guard she led the team to three consecutive NCAA championships.
Diana received many personal accolades at UConn such as the 2003 & 2004 Naismith College Player of the Year awards, the 2003 Wade Trophy, the 2004 Honda Sports Award. Furthermore, she was held in legendary status by many Connecticut fans. In her college career, Diana averaged 15.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game.
Diana Taurasi WNBA Career
After Diana’s collegiate career, she was selected first overall in the 2004 WNBA Draft by the Phoenix Mercury a team that went 8-26 in the 2003 season. During her debut, Diana scored 22 points in a 72-66 Mercury loss to the Sacramento Monarchs, she was also named to the Western Conference All-Star team and won the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award. In 2005, Diana averaged 16.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game while battling an ankle injury.
2006 was a historic season for Diana as she flourished under Westhead’s system and led the league in scoring and earning a third straight trip to the All-Star Game. She also averaged a WNBA record of 25.3 points, 4.1 assists, and 3.6 rebounds per game.
2007-2011
In 2007, Diana became the seventh player ever to win an NCAA title, a WNBA title as well as an Olympic gold medal. Ruth Riley, Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper-Dyke was the among players achieved to win the NCAA and WNBA title. Diana was a member of the USA women’s 2004, 2008, 2012, & 2016 gold medal Olympic Basketball Teams.
In the 2009 season, Diana was named the WNBA MVP and later led the Phoenix Mercury to its second WNBA championship.
In 2011, Diana was lucky because she was voted as one of the Top 15 players in the Fifteen-year history of the WNBA by fans. In 2012, she got an injury, playing only 8 games. The Mercury proceeded to finish the season 7-27 as the second-worst team in the league.
2013-2017
In 2013, Diana returned healthy for the season and she managed to play 32 games and averaged 20+ ppg for the sixth time in her career. At the beginning of the 2014 season, Diana reached the number two spot in career points per game.
On 3 February 2015, Diana announced that should sit out the 2015 WNBA season at the request of her Russian Premier League team, UMMC Ekaterinburg. The Russian Premier League team offered to pay her more than her WNBA salary to skip the 2015 season. During the 2014 WNBA season, she made just under the league maximum of $107,000. But overseas she makes 14 times that approximately $ 1.5 million.
Diana returned to the Mercury for the 2016 WNBA season where she help the team to another playoff berth with a 16-18 record. The Mercury managed to advance to the second round beating the Fever in the first round elimination game as she recorded 20points. During that game, Diana made her 113th playoff career 3- pointer and became the all-time WNBA leader in playoff career three-pointers.
In 2017, Diana signed a multi-year contract extension with Mercury and later she became the first player in the league history to reach 7,000 points 1,500 rebounds and 1,500 assists following an 85-62 victory against the Indiana Fever.
2018-2021
During the 2018 season-opener, Diana became the first player in WNBA history to make 1,003-pointers, against the Dallas Wings. In April 2019, Diana’s spouse Penny Taylor was hired as an assistant coach by the Mercury.
In the 2020 season, Diana played in 19 of the 22 games. On 23 August 2020, she scored a season-high 34 points in an 88-87 victory against Washington Mystic while honoring the late Kobe Bryant on his birthday by wearing a No.8 jersey with the last Kobe Bryant name. In February 2021, Diana re-signed with the Mercury on a two-year deal.
In the 2021 season, Diana got an injury on her ankle and broke a born in her foot. She opted to sit out because of the injury in the first single-elimination game over the New York Liberty.
Overseas Career
Diana’s international career started in 2005 when she played for Dynamo Moscow which was dominant in the Russian league until the late 90s. In 2006, she was recruited to play for the Russian team Spartak Moscow. In 2010, Diana played for Turkish champion Fenerbahce and helped the team to win the national league for the second time.
During the 2011-2012 season, Diana played for Galatasaray, the other major team from Istanbul and Fenerbahce. She joined WNBA professional players Epiphanny Prince, Sylvia Fowler, Tina Charles, and Ticha Prnicheiro. She also signed a contract with UMMC Ekaterinburg.
National team career
Diana was a member of the United States women’s U18 team which won the gold medal at the FIBA Americas Championships in Mar Del Plata, Argentina.
On 12 May 2004, Diana was selected to compete at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece with the United States national team.
Diana was the among top scorers on the U.S. national basketball team during the 2006 FIBA World Championship held in São Paulo, Brazil. She played for Team USA at the 2016 Olympics in Rio and earned her fourth gold medal while helping the United States to overcome Spain 101-72 in the final.
Diana Taurasi Spouse
Diana is married to former teammate Penny Taylor. She wed Taylor after 8 years of dating.
Diana Taurasi Family
Diana and Taylor were blessed with a son, Leo Michael Taurasi-Taylor.
Diana Taurasi parents
Diana is the daughter of Liliana and Mario. Her father Mario is a retired soccer player in Italy while her mother is from Argentina.
Diana Taurasi Siblings
Diana has an older sister named Jessika Taurasi.
Diana Taurasi Salary & Net Worth
Diana received an annual salary approximate of $119,500 and also she has an estimated net worth of $ 5 million dollars including her investment, assets, and income.
Diana Taurasi Awards
1. 3× WNBA champions
2. 2×WNBA Final MVP
3. 2009 WNBA MVP
4. 9× WNBA All-Star
5. WNBA top 15 players of All Time
Diana Taurasi Twitter Account