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Mercury, WNBA legend Diana Taurasi admits Paris 2024 will be her last Olympic Games

Originally posted on Burn City Sports | By Alec Cipollini | Last updated Jul 26, 2024 8:26 PM ET

With so many records she has shattered and having a massive trophy case from playing in the WNBA and on the international stage, Phoenix Mercury icon Diana Taurasi has forever made her mark on women’s basketball.

Regarded as one of the best players in the sport, she is a three-time WNBA champion, 10-time All-Star and All-WNBA First Team honoree, the 2009 WNBA MVP and has a vast array of other awards during her 20-year career. When representing her country for Team USA, the California native has kept that same championship mentality and has achieved major honors against the best of the world. Taurasi is a six-time Olympic gold medal and three-time FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup winner for the USA Basketball Women’s National Team.

With this being the 20th year of her career, Taurasi is close to the end of it as she admitted to ESPN that the Paris 2024 Olympics will be her last and she will retire from USA Basketball.

“It’s definitely it for USA basketball,” Taurasi said. “I’m 42 [years old]. Six Olympics. It’s just been such an honor to put that jersey on every single time.”

The 2024 Paris Olympics will be her last Olympic Games, Diana Taurasi announced.

"I’m 42. Six Olympics. It’s just been such an honor to put that jersey on every single time." pic.twitter.com/JX9BtyAIYt

— ESPN (@espn) July 26, 2024

For what she has done to help make Team USA an international powerhouse in women’s basketball, winning yet another gold medal will be a mission that she and the squad will eye in France.

For the Mercury this season, Taurasi has made history multiple times. She became only the third player in WNBA history to reach 300 wins, surpassed Michael Jordan for most 20-plus point games in WNBA/NBA history over the age of 40, and became the oldest player to score 30-plus points in a game (42 years old) and has collected 500 steals in her career.

Even though she is ruling out the chance of playing in the 2028 Olympics, Taurasi has not mentioned anything about retiring from the WNBA. She becomes a free agent after this season, but is showing no signs of slowing down as she is averaging 16.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game in 21 games. At 42, she has only missed four games this year.

Here is the upcoming schedule for Taurasi and Team USA in Group C:

July 29 vs. Japan

Aug. 1 vs. Belgium

Aug. 4 vs. Germany

This article first appeared on Burn City Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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