Phoenix Mercury star Diana Taurasi broke some major news ahead of the United States women’s Olympic basketball team’s opener in the 2024 Paris Games.
Taurasi was asked whether this summer’s Olympics was “it” for her, and the three-time WNBA champion didn’t beat around the bush.
“It’s definitely it for USA Basketball,” Taurasi said. “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.
— ESPN (@espn) July 26, 2024
"I’m 42. Six Olympics. It’s just been such an honor to put that jersey on every single time." 🏅 pic.twitter.com/JX9BtyAIYt
Taurasi, 42, was selected to her record sixth Olympic squad earlier this summer and will be looking to become the first men’s or women’s basketball player to win six gold medals. The Mercury All-Star guard averaged 10.9 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists throughout the last five Olympic competitions and is currently the all-time leader in games played at the Olympics with 38. Taurasi is ranked fourth on the Olympics all-time leading scorers list with 414 points.
Taurasi, a 2009 MVP, is in the middle of her 20th WNBA season and adds an undeniable veteran presence on a Team USA roster stacked with talented stars and playmakers including A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart and Kelsey Plum, among others.
Team USA has never lost an Olympic game in which Taurasi was playing, though that win streak goes all the way back to the 1992 Barcelona Games, 12 years before Taurasi’s Olympic debut.
“I’m just as addicted to basketball right now as I was when I was 15 playing in my driveway,” Taurasi said earlier this month. “I have the same ambitions, the same passion, the same love for it. I show up every single day in Phoenix at the practice facility at 7:30 a.m. ready to go. That’s how I treat it. However, when it’s done it’s done.”
Four years from now, Taurasi may still be spotted in Los Angeles, the host city for the 2028 Games, but chances are she’ll be enjoying a beer on the beach instead.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Diana Taurasi Makes Definitive Statement About Her Olympic Future After Paris Games.
