Wassup y’all! Ya boy (it me, ya boy) is back with another hoop recap. There have been so many things to happen since we last spoke, but this post will be a little different.
Normally, I pick a couple general topics or happenings around basketball and give a little additional perspective that’s hopefully different and insightful. Today’s post rightfully focuses on one person. Let’s talk about Diana Taurasi.
For nearly 25 years, Diana Taurasi has been a staple in the landscape of women’s basketball. One of her first landmark moments in hoop came in college. However, as much as she won in her life, it is with a loss where this moment occurs. In her freshman year at UConn, Taurasi and the Huskies lost in the 2001 Final Four to Notre Dame. She vowed that UConn, “would never lose another Tournament game while I’m wearing this uniform.” Three straight National Championships later, Taurasi backed up her claim and demonstrated that she is determined to do what she wants to do.
UConn women’s head coach Geno Auriemma once proudly proclaimed that, “We have Diana and you don’t.” I’d like to think alongside that, Taurasi’s core principle is something similar:
“I’m Diana and you’re not.”
I don’t mean this is such a way that it frames Taurasi as haughty or so self-absorbed—nothing along those lines. Yet I do mean that fully-honed and cemented, partially-irrational confidence that comes with the growth of the immensely talented into the great. In my research of the concept of greatness, talent, desire and commitment are three key components the person must have to even attempt to pursue greatness. They work as a triumvirate of complete harmony, balancing and supporting each other should the person begin to doubt. For example, I commit to being a great writer because I have a desire to do so, even if I may sometimes doubt my talent. The development of desire, commitment and talent leads to what most superstar athletes have: a whole lot of confidence. Taurasi has never been short of confidence. But that’s because she is one of basketball’s most dedicated stewards. She never cheated the game.
From the time she was selected first overall in 2004 until her announcing retirement recently, Taurasi has accomplished so much. It’s almost better fitting that she has only one WNBA MVP that stands lonesome in her trophy case. Three WNBA championships, 14 first and second team All-WNBA selections, 5 scoring titles and making the 15th, 20th and 25th Anniversary teams only scratch the surface of her resulting impact over 20 professional seasons. This does not include her work overseas and the multitudes of winning she’s done there.
One of my favorite things about basketball is that a player’s personality shows up in their game, giving it its uniqueness. No two players shoot alike, choose to attach off the dribble alike, regardless of mimicry and study. There is no one that plays like Diana Taurasi. Again, she’s Diana and you’re not. She plays like she knows that, with her long-distance shooting, gamesmanship with trash talk and brash desire to win. It’s appropriate that she spent her entire W career with the Mercury: she plays with a fire that only someone close to the Sun can have, and that allowed her to ascend to celestial greatness.
As popular as the “G.O.A.T.” conversation is these days, it’s still a subjective matter that is based on feelings and an amalgamation of how an athlete’s feats and accomplishments make people feel. The certainly lies in the fact that Diana Taurasi is so uniquely great that it is a must that we acknowledge that uniqueness. Even in retirement, she did what she wanted to do—be interviewed, announce it and that’s it. Yes, she addressed the crowd after her final home game while it was not clear to us if she was done with basketball. But that’s the thing: if she had an interview with Time, then she had already made up her mind for some time that she was retiring. Just like her game on the court, she kept us guessing until it was time for her to reveal her already thought-out plan to leave the game as a player.
Diana Taurasi is timeless. She is a living legend worthy of celebration and worthy of her being able to rest and join us as we watch where the game of basketball goes from here. Thank you, DT, for being who you are. Basketball is thankful because we have Diana and other sports do not.
