Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi announced she will return for a 19th season in the WNBA.
Taurasi, 40, made her intentions known about the 2023 season to Arizona 3TV/CBS5 on Saturday night.
“You know, I started working out, so, the minute I start working out, that means I’m all in,” Taurasi said. “Like anything, when you get to a certain point in your life, in your professional career, you start taking different things into account. Having two kids, a family, you start weighing different things of where your time and your energy goes. I’m lucky to have an amazing family that are always pushing me to do what I love to do, and that’s to play basketball. I’m ready to bring another championship here.”
Taurasi’s WNBA future came into question after her former UConn teammate and WNBA rival Sue Bird retired after the 2022 season.
Taurasi saw her 2022 campaign prematurely come to an end in August after sustaining a quad strain. The Mercury lost in the first round of the playoffs.
Last season, Taurasi averaged 16.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists across 31 games (all starts). She is a 10-time All-Star, three-time WNBA champion (2007, 2009, 2014) and was named MVP in 2009.
Taurasi has scored the most points in league history (9,693) while averaging 19.3 per game. She has played 503 games, starting every single one of them.
–Field Level Media