End of an Era
It’s just been such an honor to put that jersey on every single time. – Diana Taurasi
The end of an era. The changing of the guard. All good things must come to an end. However you want to put it, we’ll be witnessing a historic chapter in women’s basketball come to an end. As the 2024 Paris Olympics get going Diana Taurasi has announced these will be her final games as she looks for her sixth gold medal with Team USA.
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“It’s definitely it for USA Basketball,” said Taurasi. “I’m 42. Six Olympics. It’s just been such an honor to put that jersey on every single time.”
The 2024 Paris Olympics will be her last Olympic Games, Diana Taurasi announced.
“I’m 42. Six Olympics. It’s just been such an honor to put that jersey on every single time.” 🏅 pic.twitter.com/JX9BtyAIYt
— ESPN (@espn) July 26, 2024
She is often brought up in conversation as possibly the best women’s basketball player ever. The Diana Taurasi stats certainly support that claim. She ranks second all-time in WNBA games played with 550, only trailing Sue Bird by 30 games. She is the all-time leader in total points with 10447 and it’s not really even close. She ranks fifth in assists and also has the most three-pointers made with 1418.
Dee for three to get us started.
🇺🇸 #USABWNT x 📺 @FS1 pic.twitter.com/ylnPzUzCAv
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) July 23, 2024
An Impressive Olympic Career
Even more impressive is her longevity and what that has allowed her to accomplish. She’s played 20 WNBA seasons and is about to play in her sixth Olympic games. Her Olympic career is one for the books as she and women’s USA basketball have won the last five gold medals at the summer games dating back to her first experience back in Athens in 2004.
The US Women’s team is one of the most dominant teams out of all the Olympic sports and teams. They are 70-3 in Olympic play and have not lost a game since 1992. The fact that Taurasi has been a part of five of the seven straight golds just goes to show her stance among the greats of the game. Taking home some more first-place hardware from Paris would make Diana the first female basketball player ever with six gold medals.
USA 🇺🇸 coming for that gold 🥇#Paris2024 x #Basketball pic.twitter.com/S4vLWgi3Rz
— FIBA (@FIBA) July 25, 2024
At 42 years old, it’s really not surprising that she is calling it quits on the summer games after this year. Playing at 46 would be honestly mind-blowing, as well as knee-blowing, back-blowing, hip-blowing, and every other joint-blowing. I think she made the right call, let’s be honest. It has to be hard to say goodbye to a sport you’ve helped build and been a face of for two decades.
Who’s to say when she’ll announce her final WNBA season, so fans will have to wait and enjoy the rest of her career while it lasts. The best we can do is leave our mark and it’s safe to say Diana Taurasi has left more than just a mark. She’s left a legacy.
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