Diana Taurasi appears on ABC’s The View after she announced her retirement

Taurasi expressed her desire for her legacy to be remembered as someone who “loved showing up to work every single day” while representing the Mercury throughout her 20-year career.

“That’s what I tried to do for my teammates,” Taurasi said. “Show up for them every single day. That loyalty, to me, was always huge. Playing on one WNBA team, playing at UConn for four years, putting on that USA jersey for 20 years and six Olympics. You can’t write that. That’s a fairytale.”

With women’s basketball gaining popularity due to the arrivals of Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese last summer, Taurasi offered some words of advice for the next generation.

“It’s hard to give them advice because when I started playing, it was a completely different landscape of what our generation had to fight through and the things we went through. But at the same time, you have to keep the main thing the main thing,” Taurasi said.

“We have to make sure this is the best product on the court. There’s a lot of distractions now with sponsorships and endorsements and TV appearances, which is amazing. But you have to make sure the product is elite.”

Taurasi will be eligible for induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the 2027 class. The basketball community is expressing appreciation for Taurasi’s remarkable career, and her influence, along with her humorous antics, will always be remembered.