Diana Taurasi Names Who is on her Mt. Rushmore of Women Basketball Players
Diana Taurasi is one of the most decorated basketball players in the history of the game male or female. The White Mamba a nickname given to her by NBA legend Kobe Bryant is a scoring machine. She is currently the All-time Leading Scorer (8082) and three-pointers (1028) made in WNBA HIstory. Other awards that she collected over Hall of Fame worthy career includes Three WNBA Champions, Two Finals MVPs, and regular season MVP in 2009.
Not to mention some of the accolades she was able to receive while at the University of Connecticut. (UConn) Taurasi would lead the Huskies to three consecutive National Championships and while pursuing to the fourth, her head coach at the time Hall of Famer Geno Auriemma, voiced his opinion leading up to the final championship with this statement, “We have Diana, and you don’t.”
Some of her personal achievements include the 2003 and 2004 Naismith College Player of the Year awards, the 2003 Wade Trophy, and the 2003 Associated Press Player of the Year award. She has also been apart of three Gold-winning Olympic teams and has tallied 6× Euroleague championships, 7× Russian National League championships, and a Turkish National League champion in 2011.
This past Tuesday the Phoenix Mercury took on the Dallas Wings at the College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, which saw the Wings lose a heartbreaker 75-72 and saw their record fall to 4 & four. As for the Mercury, they won there sixth-game in a row improving to 7 & 3 on the young season. After the game, I had the opportunity to speak with future Hall of Famer Diana Taurasi about who would be on her Mt. Rushmore of Women Basketball Players. They go as this order.
At the five position, she named Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie but gave her teammate Brittney Griner an honorable mention. She would continue with the power forward position by naming Four-Time WNBA Champion and 2018 Hall of Fame-elect Tina Thompson while adding “No one has ever been as competitive as her,” She would continue by selecting Hall of Famer Sheryl Swoops, who is a former member of the four-time WNBA Champions Houston Comets at the small forward position. At the shooting guard position, she went old school by naming Hall of Famer Cheryl Miller who was a scoring machine herself in her heyday. Finally, at the point guard position, she gave the nod to future Hall of Famer and floor general of the Seattle Storm Sue Bird. Diana’s Mt. Rushmore list can be seen its entirety can be seen below.
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