The Phoenix Mercury could not give Diana Taurasi the perfect ending on the basketball court. On the night her No. 3 jersey was raised to the rafters, the Mercury surrendered an eight-point fourth-quarter lead and fell 88-85 to the Portland Fire. But the result mattered little once the game ended. This was no longer about the scoreboard. It was about closing the book on a 20-year career that transformed the Mercury, elevated women’s basketball and turned Taurasi into one of the defining athletes in WNBA history.
Taurasi returned to Phoenix on Sunday, August 16, to receive the franchise’s highest individual honour. At halftime, the Mercury retired her No. 3 jersey and inducted her into the team’s Ring of Honor, placing her alongside franchise greats including her wife and former teammate Penny Taylor, Michele Timms, Jennifer Gillom and Bridget Pettis.
The ceremony was part of a weekend-long celebration of Taurasi’s contribution to Phoenix. Her family joined her on the court, with Taylor already having her own place in Mercury history. Taurasi’s relationship with the franchise has always been unusually complete. She was selected No. 1 overall by Phoenix in the 2004 WNBA Draft and spent every one of her 20 WNBA seasons with the organisation, becoming the first player in league history to play two decades for the same franchise.
Her numbers tell only part of the story. Taurasi retired as the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer with 10,646 points. She also finished first in league history in made field goals, three-pointers and free throws, while ranking fourth in assists. She won three WNBA championships with Phoenix in 2007, 2009 and 2014, two Finals MVP awards and the 2009 regular-season MVP. She was selected to 11 All-Star teams and earned 14 All-WNBA selections.
Internationally, her legacy was just as extraordinary. Taurasi won six Olympic gold medals with the United States, from Athens in 2004 through Paris in 2024, making her the only basketball player in Olympic history to achieve that feat. In 2021, she was voted the WNBA’s Greatest Player of All Time. But the tribute in Phoenix was designed to capture something beyond statistics. Before the game, the city unveiled “10646 Taurasi Way”, a street designation referencing the number of points she scored during her WNBA career. Phoenix also celebrated her legacy with a mural and refurbished outdoor courts.
The Mercury’s practice facility had already been named the Diana Taurasi Courts in 2024, with her silhouette incorporated into the court design to commemorate her becoming the first player to reach 10,000 WNBA points. Sunday’s ceremony brought together figures from across Phoenix’s sporting community. Among those present were Olympic swimming legend Michael Phelps, basketball Hall of Famer Sheryl Swoopes, NFL star Larry Fitzgerald, Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker and Taurasi’s former Mercury teammate Brittney Griner.
For Taurasi, however, the most important audience was the one that had followed her for two decades. “This place made me who I am,” she told fans. “You let me grow, you let me fall. You let me get back up and you gave me the space to become who I am today.” Those words captured the relationship between player and city better than another list of achievements could. The Mercury had announced Taurasi’s Ring of Honor induction in March 2025, describing her as one of the most decorated athletes in sporting history. The organisation also confirmed that her No. 3 would be retired, making her the latest Mercury legend to receive the honour.
Her retirement, announced in February 2025, came after the 2024 season. At the time, Taurasi said she was “full and happy”, bringing an end to a career that had become inseparable from Phoenix basketball. The Mercury have since moved into a new era. The franchise is celebrating its 30th WNBA season in 2026 and has introduced throwback-inspired uniforms and a new court paying tribute to its original 1997 identity.
The names of every Mercury player in franchise history feature on the court, with Ring of Honor members highlighted. Even without Taurasi on the floor, her presence remains woven into the organisation. The loss to Portland may have denied Phoenix a victory on a night built around its greatest player. The Fire erased the Mercury’s advantage in the fourth quarter and completed an 88-85 comeback, with Carla Leite leading the late charge.
Yet there was little disappointment when Taurasi took the microphone after the final buzzer. The crowd stayed behind. For two decades, Phoenix watched Taurasi win championships, break records, argue with officials, celebrate teammates and repeatedly deliver when the pressure was highest. On Sunday, the Mercury returned the favour. The No. 3 is now above the court. The Ring of Honor has another name. The numbers are permanently etched into the record book.
