Diana Taurasi 'forever grateful' as jersey retired in Phoenix: Five moments that defined her legendary career

Diana Taurasi, the WNBA's all-time leading scorer, had her iconic No. 3 retired by the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday. Taurasi, the No. 1 overall pick in 2004, spent her entire career with the Mercury, and led the franchise to three championships before she retired in 2024. 

The Mercury held a ceremony for Taurasi at halftime of their dramatic 88-85 loss to the Portland Fire. With her family seated on the court and her championship trophies behind her, Taurasi gave a short speech before her number was unveiled in the rafters. She joins her wife, Penny Taylor, as well as Michele Timms, Jennifer Gillom and Bridget Pettis as the only players in Mercury history to have their number retired. 

"I want to speak directly to the city of Phoenix. I got to this city in 2004 and I instantly knew this was the place for me," Taurasi said. "This place has made me who I am. You guys let me grow, you let me fall, you let me get back up and you gave me the space to become who I am today."

"Through the championships, through all the good times, through all the bad times, the loyalty you have given me is something that I will take with me forever in my whole life," Taurasi continued. "I am forever grateful. I can never repay you. All the love, the memories that you've given me. I feel like a true Phoenician. The Phoenix Mercury are great because of you. Don't ever forget that. I will forever be grateful. I love you guys. Thank you so much."

In addition to her three championships, Taurasi won an MVP, two Finals MVPs and a record five scoring titles. She was the Rookie of the Year, an 11-time All-Star, a 14-time All-WNBA honoree and a member of the WNBA's 15th, 20th and 25th anniversary teams. Her 10,646 points are the most ever, and she's the only player in the 10,000-point club. She's also the league's all-time leader in 3-pointers with 1,447. On the international level, she won a record six gold medals with Team USA. 

Now that Taurasi's No. 3 is forever immortalized, let's take a look back at some of her best moments. 

Taurasi's top five moments

5. Sixth gold medal

Taurasi's inclusion on the 2024 Olympic team in Paris was somewhat controversial, and she ended up playing sparingly in the tournament. Still, she was a key veteran presence in the locker room as Team USA survived a scare from France to win a record eighth consecutive gold medal. 

For Taurasi, that was her sixth gold, making her the most decorated basketball player -- man or woman -- in Olympic history. She was far more productive in her first five Olympic appearances and was Team USA's leading scorer in both 2012 and 2016. 

4. No. 1 pick, historic rookie season

After leading UConn to three consecutive NCAA titles from 2002-04, and being named Naismith Player of the Year and Final Four Most Outstanding Player in the latter two season, Taurasi was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2004 WNBA Draft to the Mercury. 

She scored at least 20 points in her first three games, and never looked back. Taurasi averaged 17 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists as she won Rookie of the Year, finished third in MVP voting and was named to the All-WNBA First Team. Taurasi is one of just five players to make the All-WNBA First Team as a true rookie (along with Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings, Candace Parker and Caitlin Clark). 

3. 2014 playoff heroics

The Mercury had the best record in the league in 2014, back when the playoff format was still conference-based. That meant they had to play the Minnesota Lynx, their rival and the team with the second-best record, in the semifinals. In the deciding Game 3 of that series, Taurasi went off for 31 points, five rebounds and seven assists to clinch a trip to the Finals. From 2011-17, that was the only season that the dynastic Lynx did not reach the Finals. 

In the 2014 Finals, the Mercury swept the overmatched Sky thanks in large part to Taurasi, who was named Finals MVP for the second time in her career. She averaged 20.3 points and 6.3 assists in the series, and clinched the title with a go-ahead and-one with 14.2 seconds remaining in Game 3. 

2. MVP, Finals MVP in same season

From start to finish, Taurasi's 2009 campaign was her best all-around season. She averaged 20.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.4 blocks on 46.1/40.7/89.4 shooting splits and set career highs in rebounds, blocks, field goal percentage and 3-point percentage as she led the Mercury to the best record in the league. For her efforts, she was named an All-Star and All-WNBA First Team and won her first, and only, MVP award. 

In the playoffs, Taurasi delivered clutch performances time and again to lead the Mercury to their second title in three seasons. The team went 5-0 in elimination games, won winner-take-all contests in all three series and won back-to-back must-win games to close out the first round and the Finals. In those five games, Taurasi averaged 23.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists. She was named Finals MVP for the first time in her career after averaging 20.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.6 blocks in the Finals against the Indiana Fever. 

Taurasi remains one of seven players to win MVP and Finals MVP in the same season. The only other players to also win the scoring title in the same season are Cynthia Cooper (1997, 1998) and A'ja Wilson (2025). 

1. Scoring record, first 10k points

Amid all of her accomplishments, Taurasi is best known for being the league's all-time greatest scorer. 

On June 18, 2017, Taurasi drove to the basket against the Los Angeles Sparks and converted a layup to surpass Tina Thompson's previous record of 7,488 points. 

Over seven more seasons, Taurasi would continue adding to her resume. On Aug. 3, 2023, Taurasi drained a 3-pointer against the Atlanta Dream to become the first player in league history to reach 10,000 career points. 

When she retired at the end of the 2024 season, Taurasi had 10,646 points to her name. 

At some point, Taurasi's record is going to fall. The WNBA is expanding to 50-game seasons in 2027 -- the league played 34 for the majority of Taurasi's career -- and 18 teams by 2030. But it's going to be a long time before that happens. No active player has more than 8,188 points.