PHOENIX — The desert heat eclipsed 100 degrees Sunday afternoon, but it didn’t stop the crowds of fans from gathering outside of Mortgage Matchup Center for Diana Taurasi.
Most donned her jersey in anticipation of the halftime ceremony where the Phoenix Mercury would retire Taurasi’s No. 3, which the guard wore throughout her storied WNBA career.
“Today feels different,” Taurasi said before the Mercury’s game against the Portland Fire. “When your number goes up there, you can’t use it anymore. It’s done. So, if there was any little competitiveness still in me, I think today it goes up in the rafters with the number, and it feels really good to know that.”
Taurasi retired on Feb. 25, 2025, after 20 seasons in the WNBA, all of them with the Phoenix Mercury. In two decades, she racked up a catalog of accomplishments longer than a CVS receipt. She is the WNBA’s All-Time leading scorer, a three-time WNBA champion, 11-time All-Star, 2009 MVP, five-time scoring champion, six-time Olympic gold medalist, two-time Finals MVP and 10-time All-WNBA first-teamer.
The Mercury and the city of Phoenix spent the weekend celebrating the career of its adopted daughter.
On Thursday, a street outside of Mortgage Matchup Center was named “10646 Taurasi Way,” in honor of her career point total. Taurasi partook in a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday for one of the three refurbished outdoor courts in the Phoenix area. A mural with her likeness was painted on a wall outside of the arena.
The weekend culminated with Sunday’s jersey retirement ceremony and Taurasi’s induction into the franchise’s Ring of Honor. She joins Mercury legends Cheryl Miller, Jennifer Gillom, Bridget Pettis, Michele Timms and Penny Taylor, who is Taurasi’s wife.
Team owner Mat Ishbia, who also owns the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, welcomed Taurasi onto the court at halftime. Her parents, sister, wife and children were waiting there for her. Ishbia gave a brief speech before passing the mic to Pettis, a former teammate of Taurasi’s, who accepted her into the Ring of Honor. Then it was time for Taurasi’s speech, which she called an “appetizer” ahead of a lengthier ceremony to be held after the game.
Taurasi thanked Ishbia and the organization for valuing the Mercury with equal treatment and respect as the Suns organization. She then spoke directly to Mercury fans and Phoenix residents. She shared the story of her first conversation with former Mercury owner Jerry Colangelo, and said she knew she would never leave the desert.
“This place made me who I am,” Taurasi said. “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.”
Sitting courtside were noteworthy attendees such as 23-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps, four-time WNBA champion Sheryl Swoopes, retired Arizona Cardinals Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald, Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker and Taurasi’s former teammate Brittney Griner, who helped Taurasi lead the Mercury to the 2014 WNBA championship .
“You’ve been the epitome of what Phoenix basketball is, a great person to follow and a great mentor,” Booker said in a video tribute.
The common thread in all characterizations of Taurasi, whether from close friends or on-court foes, is the competitive fire that fueled her success. At a news conference before Sunday’s game, Taurasi acknowledged the pressure that came with her drive to win. But while she spoke, there was an unmistakable sense of peace as she described how she defines success in retirement.
“Throughout my career, it wasn’t about winning in this weird way,” Taurasi said. “That didn’t make me happy. The winning or the losing, it didn’t motivate me more or less. So, once I retired, I didn’t have this urge to be competitive. I didn’t have this urge to prove myself. Hopefully, I still treat the day the same way, where whoever I come in contact with, I give them my attention, I give them my energy.”
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Phoenix Mercury, WNBA
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