Diana Taurasi hints at WNBA retirement in front of UConn legends; Nika Muhl scores first WNBA points

UConn women’s basketball legend Diana Taurasi didn’t announce her retirement from the WNBA after the Phoenix Mercury’s final regular-season home game on Thursday night, but her postgame speech to the sold-out crowd felt distinctly like a farewell.

The game against the Seattle Storm was a celebration of the superstar’s legacy, and Taurasi fittingly scored the first points for the Mercury on a 3-pointer. She finished with nine points shooting 3-for-6 beyond the arc in what could be her final game at Phoenix’s Footprint Center.

“I want to thank every single coach, every single player, every single person that’s put on a WNBA jersey, because it takes a village, and our league is about uplifting each other at every turn,” Taurasi said after the Mercury played a video in tribute to her career. “To see where we are now, 28 years later … for everyone who played before this league is where it is now, we’re thankful for you guys and we’re thankful for the next generation. But if it is the last time, it felt like the first time. I love you guys.”

Taurasi is guaranteed at least two more games in 2024 in the first round of the WNBA Playoffs, and she could play again on her home court if the series goes to three games: Phoenix secured the No. 7 seed and faces the No. 2 Minnesota Lynx in Minneapolis for Game 1 on Sunday.

Over 20 years with the Mercury, Taurasi has firmly etched her name into WNBA history as one of the greatest to every play the game. She was the franchise’s No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 WNBA Draft after leading UConn to three consecutive NCAA championships from 2002-04 and won Rookie of the Year her first season. She led Phoenix to its first-ever WNBA title in 2007, then won another plus the league MVP award in 2009. Taurasi added a third trophy to her collection in 2014, making the Mercury one of just four active WNBA franchises with three or more championships. She is an 11-time All-Star, a two-time Finals MVP and in 2023 became the first WNBA player to reach 10,000 career points.

Among the Mercury crowd for Taurasi’s celebration were prominent representatives of her Connecticut roots: Head coach Geno Auriemma, associate head coach Chris Dailey and Taurasi’s best friend Sue Bird. Bird retired after 20 seasons in 2022, and as the Phoenix fans chanted “One more year,” during her speech, Taurasi joked that the scenario felt familiar.

“If this is the last time—” Taurasi started before the crowd interrupted her, and she grinned. “I think they tricked Sue with that one last time.”

The Footprint Center fans gave Taurasi a standing ovation when she checked out with just over three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter against Seattle. She hugged her parents seated courtside as she returned to the bench, and Storm rookie Nika Muhl, a fellow former Husky, also embraced Taurasi before she left the floor. Muhl scored the first points of her WNBA career Thursday in poetic fashion, making a layup off of a steal in transition with Bird, whose No. 10 jersey she wore at UConn, and her former coaches looking on.

After the game against Seattle, Taurasi spoke about lasts. She reminisced. She was emotional, effusive with her appreciation for the Mercury fanbase and Phoenix community that embraced her and her family. Her six-year-old son Leo clung to her through the speech while her wife and former teammate Penny Taylor looked on with 2-year-old daughter Isla.

But every implied goodbye came with a caveat: “If.” Even at age 42 with arguably the most legendary resume in women’s basketball history, Taurasi isn’t ready to completely close the door on another season.

“You know, I don’t know,” Taurasi said before the Mercury’s final road game in Los Angeles on Wednesday. “The last couple of weeks have been a little nerve-racking for myself. I don’t want to make any emotional, rash decisions. I know the end is near. When that is, I don’t know … When the season’s over I’ll reflect and I’ll get advice from the people that are close to my heart and have been with me since day one. You never know, but who knows.”