Mercury’s Taurasi now just 14 points shy of WNBA career record
Taurasi 14 points away from passing Thompson for WNBA scoring title
Diana Taurasi is a child of the WNBA. She was early in her career at Don Lugo High School in Chino, Calif., when the WNBA launched in 1997, building off the momentum of the U.S. women’s basketball dominance at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
“I would go to all the games,” said Taurasi, watching not only the Los Angeles Sparks but the Long Beach Stingrays of the short-lived rival American Basketball League. “I went to a preseason game at the Anaheim Pond and (Sacramento Monarchs guard) Ticha Penicheiro came over and talked to me before warmups.
“It was that time when basketball was taking off and going to the next level with (Michael) Jordan and the Dream Team. When the WNBA started, I got to go to the Forum to watch women play and not just Nick Van Exel and Eddie Jones. It was a total change of mindset, really.”
The Mercury's Diana Taurasi (3) looks at the scoreboard during a game against the Sky at Talking Stick Resort Arena on Friday. Taurasi finished with 15 points. PATRICK BREEN/ AZCENTRAL SPORTS
A transformation that would set Taurasi on a path that intersected with WNBA history and her past Friday night.
With 15 points at Talking Stick Resort Arena, the 35-year-old Phoenix Mercury guard is now 14 away from passing Tina Thompson as the WNBA career-scoring leader.
The Mercury beat the Chicago Sky, 86-78, improving to 6-4. Taurasi will have a chance to break the record Sunday in Los Angeles, near where she grew up in Chino.
“I’m not chasing it,” Taurasi said. “When it comes, it comes. I’m just not going to go out there and try to get points to break the record. If you play basketball long enough and you do it the right way, it’ll come. When it does, I’ll be happy.”
Because starting point guard Danielle Robinson was out with a sprained right ankle, Taurasi had to handle the ball more, changing her role. She was content with being more of a facilitator, finishing with five assists. She shot just 2-of-10 and had nine points at halftime and did not score again until six free throws in the final minute.
“She’s really unselfish,” Mercury coach Sandy Brondello said. “We haven’t even spoken about that history thing. Obviously it’s a very big thing, but Diana is all about winning. She’s not about making history, it’s going to happen, and she’s going to continue to put a big number onto that.
“I thought they did a good job of defending her. They didn’t even actually let her get the ball. They didn’t want her to get that record tonight. We’ll go to LA and she’ll be ready and hopefully get it there in front of her family.”
Taurasi scored a season-high 37 at Chicago on June 1, breaking the WNBA career 3-point record. This time, center Brittney Griner led the way with 27 points and nine rebounds. Griner is the WNBA’s season-scoring leader.
Thompson, who held the careerscoring record for seven years, finished with 7,488 when she retired after the 2013 season.
Taurasi knew of Thompson from her stellar college career at USC that made the 6-2 forward valuable enough to be drafted first overall in the first WNBA draft. The Houston Comets chose Thompson, pairing her with allocated players Cynthia Cooper and Sheryl Swoopes to create a super team that still is the WNBA’s only four-time champion (1997-2000). Taurasi is a three-time champion with the Mercury.
“Not only did Tina hold her own, she gave that team a completely different outlook,” Taurasi said. “She was the one who made them tough. Her grit and grime were unparalleled. She wanted to kill whoever was on the other side. I liked that about her.”
When Taurasi started in the WNBA – like Thompson as the No. 1 overall draft pick – in 2004, Thompson already had scored 3,179 points. By the time Thompson retired, Taurasi already had trimmed the gap between them to 1,302 points, leading the WNBA in scoring five of six years from 2006-11.
After being 2004 U.S. Olympic teammates, Taurasi and Thompson played two Russian seasons together for Spartak, winning the 2007 EuroLeague title. They then again would re-team for another Olympic gold medal in 2008.
“I absolutely love Diana,” said Thompson, now an assistant coach at Texas. “If you ever put me in a situation where I had to decide who to go into battle with, after Cynthia Cooper, Dee would be the next player I’m choosing. You can’t put into fitting words what she’s meant to the game, what she puts into the game, her work ethic, how much doing the best she can to make a team better is at the forefront of her whole thought process.”
Taurasi said just hearing Thompson’s name brings back a flood of memories. Passing Thompson would extend a string of California high schoolers who became WNBA career scoring leaders (Cooper to Lisa Leslie to Thompson to Taurasi).
“So much of my career intertwined into hers,” Thompson said. “I have no quarrels with her snatching the title.”