WNBA great Diana Taurasi announced her retirement on Tuesday, calling it a career after nearly three decades of dominating basketball courts at all levels.
Many fellow basketball legends took to social media to congratulate the former WNBA MVP on her career, including former player turned ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo, three-time WNBA Champion Candace Parker and Basketball Hall of Famer Geno Auriemma, Taurasi’s former coach at UConn.
Caitlin Clark reacts to Diana Taurasi’s retirement announcement pic.twitter.com/7GdkJdfMpK
— Clark Report (@CClarkReport) February 25, 2025
Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark also expressed her appreciation for Taurasi after the news of her retirement, resharing a post from ESPN on her Instagram announcing her retirement with the caption “legend” underneath.
What has Caitlin Clark said about Diana Taurasi in the past?
While Clark was growing up, she watched Taurasi lead the Phoenix Mercury and emulated the point guard’s shooting abilities in her driveway in West Des Moines.
“That’s somebody I grew up idolizing and looking up to and wanting to be like one day,” Clark said of Taurasilast June. “She’s one of the greatest players our game has ever seen, [the] greatest scorer our game has ever seen.”
While some Iowa fans were bothered by Taurasi’s blunt take last March — when Clark was still in school — about her eventual transition to the pros, the former UConn star has since acknowledged Clark’s exceptional performance during her rookie season.
“It’s amazing what Caitlin’s been able to do in her short career so far,” Taurasi told the New York Post. “It’s been nothing short of remarkable. The one thing that I really love about her, she loves the game. You can tell she’s put the work in.”
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Clark and the Fever swept Taurasi’s Phoenix Mercury in three contests last year, with the former Iowa Hawkeye averaging 21 points, 11 assists and six rebounds during those matchups while going against Taurasi.
Caitlin Clark and Diana Taurasi are brand ambassadors for Nike
Taurasi’s endorsement deal with Nike might have also influenced the 23-year-old to sign an 8-year, $28 million endorsement deal with the company in April 2024.
In an interview with Nike published on its YouTube last week, Clark was asked which of the brand’s fellow hoopers was her favorite faceoff against during her rookie year.
“Honestly, I’ll just say Diana Taurasi, because she’s such an icon in our sport and has been in the game for so long,” Clark said. “Getting to share the court with her was pretty fun, and you just see her competitive spirit. Even though you’re not on her team, you can just feel it as a competitor.”
Diana Taurasi by the numbers
- Olympic gold medals: 6 (most in Olympic basketball)
- NCAA championships: 3
- WNBA championships: 3
- Career points: 10,646 (ranks first in WNBA)
- All-WNBA selections: 14 (first in WNBA)
- WNBA All-Star selections: 11 (second in WNBA)
- Career 3-pointers made: 1,447 (first in WNBA)
- Field goals made: 3,341 (first in WNBA)
- Scoring titles: 5 (first in WNBA)
- Seasons played: 20 (first in WNBA)
- Career Assists: 2,394 (fourth in WNBA)
- Steals: 518 (18th in WNBA)
