Diana Taurasi is an American Basketball Player. Diana Taurasi is a WNBA guard who led the University of Connecticut to three NCAA Championships. She also was able to lead the Mercury to WNBA Championships in the year 2007.
Birth Facts and Education
Diana Taurasi was born on June 11, 1982, in Glendale, California, USA. She is 39 years old and is under the astrological sign, Gemini. She holds American nationality and her full name is Diana Lorena Taurasi.
Her father’s name is Mario and her mother’s name is Liliana. Likewise, Diana’s father was raised in Argentina. He was a professional soccer player in Italy and was able to play for several years as a goalkeeper. Whereas her mother is is Argentinian as well. Her parents emigrated from Argentina to the USA even before Diana was born. Moreover, she also has an older sister whose name is Jessika.
Regarding Diana’s educational background and qualifications, she attended Don Antonio Lugo High School. While she was in high school, she participated in a lot of basketball games. She then went on to attend the University of Connecticut and started playing for the women’s basketball team during the 2000–2001 season. She even was able to receive many personal accolades at UConn. And, she also was held in legendary status by many Connecticut fans.
Career and Professional Life
Diana Taurasi was selected first overall in the 2004 WNBA Draft by the Phoenix Mercury which is a team that went 8–26 in the 2003 season. And, she was able to score 22 points in a 72–66 Mercury loss to the Sacramento Monarchs in her WNBA debut. She also was able to win the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award. Likewise, 2006 would be a historic season for Diana Taurasi as she flourished under Westhead’s system. She led the league in scoring and earning a third straight trip to the All-Star Game. She even set a WNBA record with 121 three-pointers made in a single season.
Diana Taurasi finally was able to reach the WNBA playoffs in the year 2007. Her victory in this game made her the seventh player ever to win an NCAA title, a WNBA title, as well as an Olympic gold medal. She also was a member of the USA women’s 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 gold medal Olympic Basketball Teams. Likewise, in the 2009 season, she became the WNBA MVP and later led the Phoenix Mercury to its second WNBA championship in three years.
Caption: Diana Taurasi playing basketball (Source: espn.com)
More About Career
And, while entering the 2014 season, she was able to reach the number two spot in career points per game, fifth place in career points and ninth in career assists. Moreover, in the year 2017, Diana signed a multi-year contract extension with Mercury, and later in May, she was able to become the first player in league history to reach 7,000 points, 1,500 rebounds, and 1,500 assists following an 85–62 victory over the Indiana Fever.
She again became the first player in WNBA history to make 1,000 3-pointer in the 2018 season-opener on May 18, 2018. Then in June of that same year, she became the first player in WNBA history to score 8,000 points in an 80–74 victory against the Liberty. Likewise, in February 2021, she re-signed with the Mercury on a 2-year deal. And, when she was 39 years old, she again made history as the oldest player in league history to score an over 30 point game.
International Career
Diana Taurasi’s international career started in the year 2005 when she was able to play for Dynamo Moscow. It is a team that had been dominant in the Russian league until the late 90s, and even the 2005 runner-up but was slowly declining at that time. Her team would go on to win four consecutive Euroleague championships from 2007 to 2010, and Diana became Final Four MVP in 2009 and 2010.
Likewise, in the year 2010, she played for Turkish champion Fenerbahçe, helping the team to repeat winning the national league. Then, on May 16, 2012, she signed a contract with UMMC Ekaterinburg, joining fellow WNBA star Candace Parker. The team was able to dominate national and international competitions, winning the 2012–13 EuroLeague (second time for the club), Russian Championship, and Russian Cup.
Diana Taurasi was back to UMMC in the year 2015–2016, leading the team to its third (and her sixth personal) Euroleague title, while also earning MVP honors. Then again in 2016–2017, she returned to UMMC, helping the team to its eleventh league championship.
Caption: Diana Taurasi winning gold medal (Source: self.com)
National team career
Diana Taurasi was a member of the USA Women’s U18 team which was able to win the gold medal at the FIBA Americas Championship in Mar Del Plata, Argentina. In May of the year 2004, she was selected to represent the United States with the US Women’s National Basketball team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. She was able to help the United States capture the gold medal, defeating Australia in the championship game. She also represented the United States as a member of the US Women’s National Basketball team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.
Taurasi became one of the National team members to represent the USA Basketball team in the WNBA versus USA Basketball. She also was one of 21 finalists for the US Women’s Olympic Basketball Team Roster. She also was able to play for Team USA in the 2016 Olympics in Rio. During that time, she earned her fourth gold medal while helping the USA beat Spain 101–72 in the final gold medal game.
Relationship Status
Diana Taurasi tied the knot with a former teammate Penny Taylor on May 13, 2017, after 8 years of dating. The couple has two children together and they are a boy and a girl. Their son’s name is Leo Michael Taurasi-Taylor but their daughter’s name is not available to us. Her wife was the Phoenix Mercury Director of Player Development and Performance at the time of their wedding.
Caption: Diana Taurasi along with her wife, Penny Taylor (Source: Instagram)
Body Measurements
Diana Taurasi has a height of 6 feet and her weight is 74 Kg and her other body measurements are 36-25-35 inches. Moreover, Taurasi has brown hair and brown eyes.
Social Media and Net Worth
Diana Taurasi is pretty active on all of her social accounts. She owns her Instagram account under the name “dianataurasi” and has garnered 226K followers on it. Likewise, her Twitter account is under the name “DianaTaurasi” and has 89.2K followers until now. Taurasi also owns a Facebook account and has mustered 251K followers on it.
According to exactnetworth, Diana Taurasi has a net worth of $2 million and her main income source is her career as a basketball player. She must have many other income sources as well.
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