Diana Lorena Taurasi was born on June 11,1982 and is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association, and is considered to be one of the greatest female basketball players of all time.
64 Facts About Diana Taurasi
2.
Diana Taurasi was drafted by Phoenix first overall in the 2004 WNBA draft.
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Diana Taurasi has been selected to ten WNBA All-Star teams and fourteen All-WNBA teams.
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On June 18,2017, Diana Taurasi became the WNBA all-time leading scorer and on June 27,2021, became the first player to surpass 9,000 points.
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Diana Taurasi is one of 11 women to win an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA Championship, a FIBA World Cup gold and a WNBA Championship.
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Diana Taurasi grew up in Chino, California, where she attended and played basketball at Don Antonio Lugo High School.
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Diana Taurasi was a professional soccer player in Italy and played for several years as a goalkeeper.
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Diana Taurasi attended Don Antonio Lugo High School, where she was the recipient of the 2000 Cheryl Miller Award, presented by the Los Angeles Times to the best player in Southern California.
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Diana Taurasi was named the 2000 Naismith and Parade Magazine National High School Player of the Year, and the 1999 and 2000 Ms.
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Diana Taurasi finished her prep career ranked fourth in state history with 3,047 points.
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Diana Taurasi participated in the 2000 WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored twelve points, and earned MVP honors.
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Diana Taurasi received many personal accolades at UConn including the 2003 and 2004 Naismith College Player of the Year awards, the 2003 Wade Trophy, the 2003 and 2004 Honda Sports Award and the 2003 Associated Press Player of the Year award.
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Diana Taurasi averaged 15.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game in her collegiate career.
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In 2006, Diana Taurasi was a member of the inaugural class of inductees to the University of Connecticut women's basketball "Huskies of Honor" recognition program.
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In 2005, Diana Taurasi averaged 16.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game while battling an ankle injury.
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Diana Taurasi was an All Star for the second straight year, but the Mercury faded down the stretch and again missed the playoffs.
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Diana Taurasi broke Katie Smith's league records for points in a season.
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In 2006, Diana Taurasi averaged a WNBA record 25.3 points, 4.1 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game, including a career-high 47 points in a triple overtime regular season victory against the Houston Comets.
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Diana Taurasi set a WNBA record with 121 three-pointers made in a single season.
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Diana Taurasi was a member of the USA women's 2004,2008,2012, and 2016 gold medal Olympic Basketball Teams.
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Diana Taurasi is one of only two players, to win the season scoring title, the season MVP award, a WNBA Championship and the finals MVP in the same season.
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In 2012, Diana Taurasi had an injury-riddled season, playing only eight games.
23.
Diana Taurasi had to sit out the rest of the season with a strained left hip flexor.
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In 2013, Diana Taurasi returned healthy for the season, she played 32 games and averaged 20+ ppg for the sixth time in her career.
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Diana Taurasi won the WNBA Finals MVP for the second time in her career.
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On February 3,2015, Diana Taurasi announced that she would sit out the 2015 WNBA season at the request of her Russian Premier League team, UMMC Ekaterinburg.
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Diana Taurasi returned to the Mercury for the 2016 WNBA season.
28.
The Mercury advanced to the second round beating the Fever in the first round elimination game as Diana Taurasi scored 20 points.
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In May 2017, Diana Taurasi signed a multi-year contract extension with the Mercury.
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On June 18,2017, Diana Taurasi became the WNBA's all-time leading scorer, passing Tina Thompson's old record.
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Diana Taurasi would be selected into the 2017 WNBA All-Star Game, making it her eighth career all-star game appearance.
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Diana Taurasi would earn her ninth career all-star appearance after being voted into the 2018 WNBA All-Star Game.
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Diana Taurasi started the 2019 WNBA season on the injured list after undergoing back surgery.
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Diana Taurasi would continue to be hobbled throughout the season, this time with a hamstring injury which limited her to only 6 games played for the season with very minimal playing time.
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In February 2021, Diana Taurasi re-signed with the Mercury on a 2-year deal.
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Diana Taurasi injured her ankle and broke a bone in her foot late in the Mercury's 2021 season and opted to sit out due to the injury in the first single elimination game against the New York Liberty.
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Diana Taurasi returned for the second round single elimination game against the reigning champions Seattle Storm which the Mercury won in overtime.
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Diana Taurasi led her team to a tie series after a Game 1 loss making history.
39.
At 39 years old, Diana Taurasi made history as the oldest player in league history to score an over 30 point game.
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Phoenix Mercury coach, Sandy Brondello, noted that Diana Taurasi still had pain in her ankle but managed to play through it and play through it she did, playing her heart out in a Game 3 win and Game 4 loss.
41.
In 2006 Diana Taurasi was recruited to play for the Russian team Spartak Moscow.
42.
Diana Taurasi had stopped in to see a local women's basketball team in Yekaterinburg, and "literally fell in love with the point guard, Anna Arkhipova".
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Diana Taurasi ended up buying that team, but later decided to buy the Spartak Moscow Region team, and turn it into a top team.
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Diana Taurasi arranged to add a number of top-notch players, who had earned seven Olympic medals between them.
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In 2010 Diana Taurasi played for Turkish champion Fenerbahce, helping the team to repeat winning the national league.
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On December 24,2010, Diana Taurasi's lawyers revealed that she had tested positive for a mild stimulant; according to her lawyer, Howard Jacobs, the positive test came from an "A" sample, and that testing had been requested on a second "B" sample.
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On February 16,2011, Diana Taurasi was finally cleared of doping allegations.
48.
ABC News indicated Diana Taurasi was absolved from all doping allegations and could rejoin her Istanbul team following the retraction of the Turkish laboratory on its earlier finding on the former UConn star's urine samples.
49.
On May 16,2012, Diana Taurasi signed a contract with UMMC Ekaterinburg, joining fellow WNBA star Candace Parker.
50.
Diana Taurasi chose to accept the deal, giving up the WNBA title defense and returning to Phoenix Mercury only in 2016; her decision spread a big debate in the United States about salary policies in women's basketball compared to Europe and China, where women's teams receive governmental support.
51.
Diana Taurasi averaged 12.6 points per game and led the team with assists with 5.46 per game.
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Diana Taurasi has earned a bronze medal as a member of the 2001 US junior World Championship team, and a gold medal as a member of the 2000 US Women's junior World Championship qualifying team.
53.
On May 12,2004, Diana Taurasi was selected to compete at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece with the United States national team.
54.
Diana Taurasi helped Team USA capture the gold medal, defeating Australia in the championship game.
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Diana Taurasi represented the United States as a member of the 2008 Olympic team at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, China, where she started all eight games and helped lead the USA to the gold medal.
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Diana Taurasi was the second leading scorer on the US national basketball team at the 2006 FIBA World Championship held in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
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Diana Taurasi was invited to the USA Basketball women's national team training camp in the fall of 2009.
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Diana Taurasi was named as one of the national team members to represent the US national team in the WNBA versus USA Basketball.
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Diana Taurasi was selected to be a member of the national team for the World Championships.
60.
Diana Taurasi led the team in scoring with 12.0 points per game and was second on the team with 23 assists.
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Diana Taurasi was one of 21 finalists for the 2012 US women's Olympic team roster.
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Diana Taurasi was a key member of the gold medal-winning 2020 US women's Olympic team in Tokyo, earning Diana Taurasi a record fifth gold medal.
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Diana Taurasi joins US Olympic teammate Sue Bird as the only two Olympic basketball players of any gender to win five Olympic gold medals.
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Diana Taurasi then flew from Las Vegas, where the game took place, back to Phoenix, arriving in time to witness Taylor give birth on October 9,2021, at 4:24am to the couple's first daughter.