Diana Taurusi reveals Mercury ownership plans

Nearly two years after retiring as the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer, legend Diana Taurasi has said she wants to make a return to pro basketball. Taurasi told ESPN that she hopes to rejoin the Phoenix Mercury as a member of the franchise’s ownership group within the next two years.

“Ownership is always something that’s always been on my mind,” Taurasi told ESPN on Friday. “So, thankfully, I’m in a great place where it hopefully can evolve into something. But I don’t want to just do it and not be around. When I do it, I want to be around because I want to have an influence on where this franchise goes. And obviously being in Phoenix would be the goal.”

Taurasi spent her entire 20-season career with the Mercury, who are set to retire her No. 3 jersey and enter her name into the Mercury Ring of Honor on Sunday. The city already unveiled a street sign outside the Mortgage Matchup Center on Thursday that read “10646 Taurasi Way” to reflect her record-setting career point total, proving that her ties to Phoenix run deep. Taurasi elaborated on her connection to the city in her interview with ESPN.

“I mean, look, there’s been times where things didn’t look great for us as a franchise. But I think that’s the beauty also of what the times were like. You had to be there through the ups and the downs, and it made the ups so much sweeter,” Taurasi said.

“Some of my favorite memories were on teams that didn’t win a championship because there was that internal struggle and grit that you had to have as a group, knowing you had to be more together or play harder or be more focused than the next team because they were more talented than you. So, I mean, all those moments kind of fed off each other.”

Despite considering leaving the Mercury at times, Taurasi stayed with the franchise through three WNBA championships, two Finals MVP awards, a WNBA MVP award, 11 All-Star appearances, 10 All-WNBA first-team selections, and even six Olympic gold medal wins.