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WNBA: What Diana Taurasi means to women’s basketball

By DJoumbarey A. Moreau

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The face of women’s basketball, Diana Taurasi, is sitting out next season to rest up for her Russian club team UMMC. What does that mean for women’s basketball?

Last season, the 2014 WNBA Finals captivated a lot of people.

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We got to see the Phoenix Mercury, the best team in the league, play against the Chicago Sky and their All-Star player, Elena Della Donne. The matchup between the two teams was fun to see because of the talent on the court, primarily the battle between Della Donne and Mercury guard Diana Taurasi.

Della Donne at one point was called the female LeBron James, and she was playing against the female version of Kobe Bryant, Taurasi. Like Bryant, Taurasi has ties to Italy, as her father Mario was born there.

The Italian Mamba brought her best performances for the last series of the season and didn’t disappoint on the most grand stage.

In the 2014 WNBA postseason, we got to see the best player in women’s basketball do what she does best: win. In Game 3, the Mercury had to travel to Chicago without their other star, Brittney Griner in the lineup, and it didn’t matter.

On route to becoming the WNBA’s all-time scorer in the finals, Taurasi showed why she’s the best player in the game. In the fourth quarter of Game 3, Taurasi scored 14 of her 24 points in the fourth quarter to help lead the Mercury to their third championship.

In the finals, Tauarsi averaged 20.3 points on 49 percent shooting, 3.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game, and was named the MVP.

Additionally, the championship contest was also a huge hit for the WNBA as they saw their audience increase. The finals had an increase of nearly 150 percent in the United States house hold ratings, and nearly a 91 percent increase in viewership.

So anyone would imagine there would be a lot of anticipation for next season to see if Taurasi could lead the Mercury to a second straight championship.

Wrong.

For all of the wonderful basketball that the postseason produced, no one is going to see Taurasi play for the Mercury this season. During this offseason, Taurasi is being paid by her Russian club team, UMMC, to sit out of the WNBA season and rest her body. It’s a sad day when the WNBA has to allow the face of it’s game to walk away because of financial reasons.

So how is it that a woman who has accomplished so much in her career has to moonlight her career as a professional basketball player in the United States?

Sep 21, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi (3) dribbles the ball up the court against the Los Angeles Sparks at US Airways Center. The Sparks defeated the Mercury 82-73. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports

There’s no person in women’s basketball that is a bigger star than Taurasi. She’s box office. She’s a showstopper. She’s any adjective that describes larger than life. But, then again, to the sport of women’s basketball, she’s even bigger.

There’s no female athlete that has accomplished more than her in her career and her resume speaks for itself.

Some of the accomplishments that Taurasi has on her resume: she’s won the WNBA Championship three times, she was the league MVP. She’s a nine-time All-WNBA First Team member. She’s a seven-time WNBA All-Star. She’s led the league in scoring for five years. She won three NCAA Championships in college, and she also won the National Player of the Year twice in the process.

Knowing that Taurasi won’t play next season for the WNBA is like knowing LeBron James won’t play in the NBA, because he’s getting more money from his Israeli league team, Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Even though the Israeli league is known for putting out great NBA talent, we want to see our stars play in their homeland.

Though a lot of people might take her basketball skill for granted, the WNBA will not be as exciting without her presence on the hardwood. Her impact to the game of basketball is exponentially bigger than any female that’s played the game in the last 30 years.

Taurasi’s made it cool for women to strive to become aggressive scoring machines on the court. In addition, what she’s done for the game of basketball extends further beyond just basketball, she’s been the role model and the voice for a generation of female basketball players.

Had it not been for her talent on the court, and excelling in college in such a dominant way, history would be a lot different. Her college head coach, Geno Auriemma, wouldn’t have over 900 victories and the University of Connecticut would not be the premier basketball destination for womens’ college basketball.

In addition big-time players in college and in the WNBA alike such as Maya Moore, Breanna Stewart, Elena Della Donne, Aja Wilson, and Skylar Diggins might not be as talented had they never seen Taurasi play.

What she means to the game of basketball is more grand than any sentence or any video can quantify.

Hopefully she’ll get the rest she needs and comeback stronger and more prepared. At the end of the day, who can blame her?

Next: The 3 Sides of the WNBA: Serious, sexy & showtime

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