Auriemma: Taurasi Is 'The Greatest Winner' In Basketball History

STORRS, CT — Upon hearing the news of Diana Taurasi's retirement Tuesday, University of Connecticut women's basketball head coach Geno Auriemma immediately said it was tough to define her career in words.

He then found four:

"It's a life that is a novel, it's a movie, it's a miniseries, it's a saga," Auriemma said.

The former UConn Great and Phoenix Mercury star received similar praise from the pros.

"Diana is the greatest to have ever played the game," Mercury and Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia said in a statement posted on the team website. "I've been a fan of her my entire life, she is the ultimate leader and teammate. She's had an incredible impact on our franchise, our community and the game of basketball. Her name is synonymous with the Phoenix Mercury and she will forever be part of our family."

Auriemma, who coached Taurasi to three national titles at UConn, expounded on that take.

"It’s hard to put into words, it really is, what this means," he said. "When someone's defined the game, when someone's had such an impact on so many people and so many places. You can’t define it with a quote. It’s a life that is a novel, it's a movie, it's a miniseries, it's a saga. It's the life of an extraordinary person who, I think, had as much to do with changing women's basketball as anyone who's ever played the game."

At UConn, Taurasi won national titles in 2002, 2003 and 2004. The Mercury selected Taurasi first overall in the 2004 WNBA Draft and she played . She played her entire career in Phoenix and, over 20 seasons, scored 10,646 career points, tops in the league. During the 2023 season, Taurasi became the first player in WNBA history to score 10,000 career points.

Taurasi won three WNBA championships in her career with the Mercury (2007, 2009 and 2014) and was voted the MVP of the finals in 2009 and 2014.

Internationally, Taurasi was part of Gold Medal-winning Team USA squads in six consecutive Olympics — Athens in 2004, Beijing in 2008, London in 2012, Rio in 2016, Tokyo in 2020 and Paris in 2024. A pair was with with Auriemma.

"In my opinion, what the greats have in common is, they transcend the sport and become synonymous with the sport," Auriemma said. "For as long as people talk about college basketball, WNBA basketball, Olympic basketball ... Diana is the greatest winner in the history of basketball, period. I’ve had the pleasure of being around her for a lot of those moments, and she's the greatest teammate I've ever coached. I’m happy for her and her family. At the same time, I'm sad that I’ll never get to see her play again."

Auriemma, though, had one final thought.

"But I saw more than most," he said.