Souhan: More than her on-court skills, WNBA will miss Diana Taurasi’s sniping

MEDLEY, FLA. — Diana Taurasi is retiring. The WNBA will never be the same.

It will be much quieter.

Her list of accomplishments is lengthy; her constant narration of her career was all about the one-liners.

Some of which are printable.

Geno Auriemma, her coach at UConn, calls her the greatest winner of all time.

Taurasi called Auriemma all kinds of things, usually in public settings.

I was covering the legendary USA women’s national team at the 2012 London Olympics. Auriemma and Taurasi had finished formal interviews. Things were getting informal.

Auriemma was chatting with a few writers when Taurasi walked by. Taurasi insulted Auriemma. He questioned her shot selection. She let him know that he had no choice but to live with it. He agreed.

Last week at the home of the Unrivaled League, another superstar forward from UConn — the Lynx’s Napheesa Collier — was asked for her favorite memories of Taurasi.

Collier laughed before she answered.

“Oh, gosh,” Collier said. “My favorite DT memory? It wasn’t even with me, but when she kissed Seimone — that famous time when they were getting into it — that just lives in my head.”

It was the fourth quarter of the first game of the 2013 WNBA Western Conference finals. Taurasi and Lynx star Seimone Augustus bumped, and the bump turned into a confrontation.

As officials tried to prevent a fight, Taurasi suddenly leaned forward and kissed Augustus on the cheek.

Officials called fouls on both players.

After the game, Taurasi said, “We were just trying to make sweet love.”

Augustus said, “The tango dance that we had, I always say that she just wanted some of my deliciousness.”

Allisha Gray, Collier’s teammate on the Lunar Owls of the Unrivaled League, had her own story.

“Growing up, I loved to watch her play,” Gray said. “So my rookie year, first game of the season, I got to play against her, and I was just thrilled that I was going to share the court with her.”

Did she learn anything from Taurasi? “Yeah,” Gray said. “Just to sit back and watch.”

Taurasi was at once the comedian and the heckler, the superstar and the scrapper.

Kobe Bryant called himself “The Black Mamba.”

He called Taurasi “The White Mamba.”

Taurasi’s father was an Italian who played soccer in Argentina. Her mother was Argentine. Taurasi grew up in California.

She said her parents gifted her a passionate and defiant voice. She honored them by using it as frequently as possible.

Which we remember because she was so spectacular on the court.

She was the only athlete to win six Olympic women’s basketball gold medals, in part because USA Basketball insisted on putting Taurasi on the 2024 Olympic team instead of celebrated rookie Caitlin Clark.

That decision prompted a national firestorm, but look at it from the selection committee’s perspective. It was choosing between perhaps the greatest women’s player of all time and a rookie who, at the time the decision was made, was struggling mightily to adapt to the professional league.

Taurasi won three WNBA titles, one MVP award and two WNBA Finals MVP award.

She was the league’s career leading scorer in the regular season and postseason.

She was a 14-time all-WNBA selection and an 11-time All-Star.

She lasted 20 seasons.

There is enough evidence to conclude that Taurasi is the greatest women’s basketball player ever.

For a Minnesota basketball fan, this can prompt feelings of regret.

Maya Moore, another great wing player from UConn, might have surpassed Taurasi’s accomplishments had she kept playing basketball.

Moore was rookie of the year and a four-time champion. She won one league MVP award, and one Finals MVP. She was a six-time All-Star who was named all-WNBA first or second team seven times.

She played only eight seasons, leaving the Lynx when Sylvia Fowles was still dominant, and just before Collier arrived.

Think about what could have been for Moore and the Lynx had she stayed.

Taurasi would have loved taking on such a team, and trash-talking her way down the court.