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Best of Yardbarker: Diana Taurasi makes history
Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi is the WNBA's all-time leading scorer. Michael Gonzales/Getty Images

Best of Yardbarker: Diana Taurasi makes history

This week kicked off with history, as Phoenix Mercury star Diana Taurasi broke Tina Thompson's record for most points in WNBA history. Prior to her game Friday night, Taurasi had stretched the record to 7,494 points and counting. Considering the 35-year-old is averaging 18.3 points through the first 10 games of the WNBA season, there's no telling how many points she'll rack up before all is said and done.

Her star power, along with an ever-expanding talent pool, has helped the WNBA reach historic heights, and Diana Taurasi setting the WNBA all-time scoring record is another leap for the league: "She scored her first points for the Phoenix Mercury on May 20, 2004, by cutting around defenders in the perimeter for an open three-pointer. Adrian Williams-Strong was sitting in the post against Sacramento Monarchs center Yolanda Griffith when she saw the dynamic rookie guard out of UConn in her purview. A quick flick of the wrist was the start of a career that would shatter records, inspire and challenge future generations of athletes, and most importantly, help push a fledgling league to greater heights."

Given that she did just that, it inspired the 'Diana Taurasi, greatest of all-time' quiz:

Can you name the all-time leading scorers in WNBA history?
SCORE:
0/25
TIME:
8:00
8,575 / PHX*
Diana Taurasi
7,488 / 3TM
Tina Thompson
7,380 / IND*
Tamika Catchings
6,811 / 5TM*
Cappie Pondexter
6,452 / 3TM*
Candice Dupree
6,452 / 5TM
Katie Smith
6,263 / LA
Lisa Leslie
6,154 / SEA
Sue Bird
6,007 / SEA
Lauren Jackson
5,982 / 2TM*
Tina Charles
5,881 / MIN*
Seimone Augustus
5,841 / 2TM
Becky Hammon
5,571 / 5TM
DeLisha Milton-Jones
5,560 / 3TM
Katie Douglas
5,523 / 2TM
Lindsay Whalen
5,468 / ATL*
Angel McCoughtry
5,385 / 2TM*
Sylvia Fowles
5,360 / LA*
Candace Parker
5,119 / 5TM
Swin Cash
5,048 / 5TM
Tangela Smith
5,013 / 7TM
Taj McWilliams-Franklin
4,984 / MIN*
Maya Moore
4,875 / 3TM
Sheryl Swoopes
4,820 / PHO
DeWanna Bonner
4,740 / 2TM
Alana Beard

The Mercury took Taurasi with the first overall pick in the 2004 WNBA Draft, and while Phoenix probably couldn't envision all the superstar from UConn would accomplish, the franchise clearly made the right pick.

The Philadelphia 76ers can only hope their back-to-back No. 1 overall picks have a fraction of the impact on the NBA that Taurasi has had on the WNBA. After drafting Ben Simmons with the first pick in 2016, Philadelphia followed up by taking Markelle Fultz following a trade with the Boston Celtics for the top pick. Immediately after Fultz, the Los Angeles Lakers drafted Lonzo Ball.

Those first two picks, which were expected prior to the actual draft, inspired the 'Process is shown to be trustworthy once again' quiz:

Can you name every No. 2 overall pick from the NBA Draft lottery era?
SCORE:
0/35
TIME:
6:00
1985 / IND
Wayman Tisdale
1986 / BOS
Len Bias
1987 / PHX
Armon Gilliam
1988 / IND
Rik Smits
1989 / CLE
Danny Ferry
1990 / SEA
Gary Payton
1991 / NJ
Kenny Anderson
1992 / CHA
Alonzo Mourning
1993 / PHI
Shawn Bradley
1994 / DAL
Jason Kidd
1995 / LAC
Antonio McDyess
1996 / TOR
Marcus Camby
1997 / PHI
Keith Van Horn
1998 / VAN
Mike Bibby
1999 / VAN
Steve Francis
2000 / VAN
Stromile Swift
2001 / LAC
Tyson Chandler
2002 / CHI
Jay Williams
2003 / DET
Darko Milicic
2004 / CHA
Emeka Okafor
2005 / ATL
Marvin Williams
2006 / CHI
LaMarcus Aldridge
2007 / SEA
Kevin Durant
2008 / MIA
Michael Beasley
2009 / MEM
Hasheem Thabeet
2010 / PHI
Evan Turner
2011 / MIN
Derrick Williams
2012 / CHA
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
2013 / ORL
Victor Oladipo
2014 / MIL
Jabari Parker
2015 / LAL
D'Angelo Russell
2016 / LAL
Brandon Ingram
2017 / LAL
Lonzo Ball
2018 / SAC
Marvin Bagley III
2019 / MEM
Ja Morant

Ball, of course, is the latest NBA player to be taken second overall. He joins the likes of Kevin Durant, who finally earned his first NBA championship this season, taking home NBA Finals MVP for the Golden State Warriors.

In honor of Durant, we here at Yardbarker took the time to rank the No. 2 overall NBA Draft picks in the lottery era prior to Thursday night's 2017 NBA Draft. Check out where Durant landed on the list:

One player on that list, Tyson Chandler, was drafted right out of high school. That is no longer possible since the NBA instituted a rule that in order to be draft-eligible, a player must be at least a year removed from his high school graduation date.

However, news is out that NBA commissioner Adam Silver is open to discussing the so-called "one-and-done rule," cracking the door on the possibility of allowing players to go from high school to NBA once again.

So, we leave you this week with the 'NBA Draft going back to school?' quiz:

Can you name every NBA player drafted out of high school?
SCORE:
0/44
TIME:
8:00
1962 / 29 / DET
Reggie Harding
1975 / 5 / PHI
Darryl Dawkins
1975 / 19 / ATL
Bill Willoughby
1995 / 5 / MIN
Kevin Garnett
1996 / 13 / CHA
Kobe Bryant
1996 / 17 / POR
Jermaine O'Neal
1997 / 9 / TOR
Tracy McGrady
1998 / 25 / IND
Al Harrington
1998 / 32 / SEA
Rashard Lewis
1998 / 40 / DET
Korleone Young
1999 / 5 / TOR
Jonathan Bender
1999 / 25 / DAL
Leon Smith
2000 / 3 / LAC
Darius Miles
2000 / 23 / UTAH
DeShawn Stevenson
2001 / 1 / WAS
Kwame Brown
2001 / 2 / LAC
Tyson Chandler
2001 / 4 / CHI
Eddy Curry
2001 / 8 / CLE
DeSagana Diop
2001 / 46 / DEN
Ousmane Cisse
2002 / 9 / PHX
Amar'e Stoudemire
2003 / 1 / CLE
LeBron James
2003 / 23 / POR
Travis Outlaw
2003 / 26 / MIN
Ndubi Ebi
2003 / 27 / MEM
Kendrick Perkins
2003 / 48 / NOH
James Lang
2004 / 1 / ORL
Dwight Howard
2004 / 4 / LAC
Shaun Livingston
2004 / 12 / SEA
Robert Swift
2004 / 13 / POR
Sebastian Telfair
2004 / 15 / BOS
Al Jefferson
2004 / 17 / ATL
Josh Smith
2004 / 18 / NOH
J.R. Smith
2004 / 19 / MIA
Dorrell Wright
2005 / 6 / POR
Martell Webster
2005 / 10 / LAL
Andrew Bynum
2005 / 18 / BOS
Gerald Green
2005 / 34 / UTAH
C.J. Miles
2005 / 35 / POR
Ricky Sanchez
2005 / 40 / GSW
Monta Ellis
2005 / 45 / PHI
Lou Williams
2005 / 49 / WAS
Andray Blatche
2005 / 56 / DET
Amir Johnson
2015 / 52 / DAL
Satnam Singh
2016 / 10 / MIL
Thon Maker

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