Entering its 20th season, the WNBA will usher in a new era this May. But while the influx of young talent in recent years should be the catalyst for this transition, the formula wouldn’t be complete without some familiar faces leading the charge.
Diana Taurasi is at the forefront of this mission. A seven-time All-Star and two-time Finals MVP, Taurasi has been emblematic of exactly what the WNBA can be from her first days on the floor in Phoenix.
The 2015 season marked the first time “D” wasn’t in a Mercury uniform in over a decade as she evaluated her options going forward while also playing abroad in Russia. While her decision to step away from the game a year ago may have felt like a natural changing of the guard, Taurasi returned at Team USA camp last month with a clear message: It was far from it.
“It was great to get away — I needed it,” she said. “I needed to work on some things that I needed to get done. There was a point there when I would walk into the gym and think, ‘ehh.’ You don’t want to be like that; basketball is too good of a sport. I’ve really felt great since I got back from Russia.”
Taurasi spent 2015 getting her body in the best shape it’s been in in years, and making sure that when WNBA fans saw her again they wouldn’t think she lost a step. In fact, they would thing she gained one.
“If there’s one thing I can’t do, it’s not be in the gym. I felt like I just needed to be in there by myself more. I did a lot of strength conditioning and changed my eating habits.”
Great athletes from Kobe Bryant to Abby Wambach have all undergone this kind of profound change late in their careers. As the body gets older, the great ones find a way to reinvent themselves to come back even stronger. This is exactly what Taurasi hopes to do.
Going forward the Mercury couldn’t be happier to get Taurasi back stateside to help them try and secure another title.
“It helps us tremendously. She’s a leader; she’s like a coach on the floor,” said All-Star Mercury center Brittney Griner. “She can bring out the best in us and she knows how to get everybody to respond in their own separate ways.”
Griner’s right about what Taurasi brings to the table. At 33 Diana has seen it all. She knows what it takes to win, but maybe more importantly what it’s like to lose. Combined with backcourt mate Penny Taylor’s return, she also immediately vaults the 2014 champs back into contender status.
Taurasi steps back into the spotlight at a time when the Mercury’s rivalry with the Minnesota Lynx will be as charged as ever. The new playoff format means the two teams could meet in the WNBA Finals instead of the Western Conference Finals, where they’ve met the past three seasons.
That rivalry will continue to be defined by the individual battle between Taurasi and fellow Huskies great Maya Moore. No one is more excited for their upcoming matchups than Taurasi.
As the WNBA enters its second phase, there’s no better bridge between the past and the present than the Mercury’s reinvigorated superstar. “The league has been around my whole lifetime as a fan and as a player,” Taurasi said. “It really is a great feeling to be a part of it and I think it’s going to be a special season. You’re going to see some things you never have before.”
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