WNBA: Diana Taurasi Announces her Retirement

 Diana Taurasi

Diana Taurasi, the all-time leading scorer in WNBA history and six-time Olympic gold medalist, typically begins preparing for the upcoming season in January. She gives herself four months to work on all facets of her game before training camp with the Phoenix Mercury. However, this New Year's Day felt different. " I just didn't have it in me," said Taurasi, in an exclusive interview with TIME from her home in Phoenix. "That was pretty much when I knew it was time to walk away." In this exclusive conversation with TIME, Taurasi publicly reveals for the first time that she's retiring from basketball, "Mentally and Physically, I'm just full," said Taurasi, who played all WNBA seasons for Mercury. "That's probably the best way I can describe it. I'm full and I'm happy." 

Taurasi's Career

Diana Taurasi leaves the WNBA with a strong claim to the title of women's basketball GOAT. "I have a resume," says Taurasi, "It's not up to me to grade it." 

Taurasi's career Highlights: 

• Record number of points: 10,646 in the regular season, nearly 3,000 more than the runner-up, Tina Charles
• Most three-pointers in WNBA history 
• Fourth all-time in assists
• WNBA Championships: 2007, 2009. 2014
• NCAA Championships: 3 titles
• Euro League titles: 6 during her 12-year overseas career in Russia and Turkey 
• Olympic gold medals: 6, a record for a basketball player
• 2009 WNBA MVP
• Two-time WNBA Finals MVP 
• three-times Euro League MVP
• Three-time Russian League Player of the Year

Geno Auriemma, who coached Taurasi in college and at the Olympics, says "Until someone comes along and eclipses what she's done, then yes, she is the GOAT." He acknowledges her scoring record and six gold medals as a testament to her exceptional career. 

Retirement 

Taurasi herself remarks "My scoring record or the six gold medals.... someone's going to come around that has the same hunger, the same addiction basketball, and put those records differently, a different name. that's what sports is all about, that's going to be fun to watch hopefully not soon." During Taurasi's peak years on the court, her confidence and fluidity made her a standout player. Whether it was a no-look pass over a smaller guard, a spin moves around a taller opponent, or a three-pointer off the dribble, Taurasi always made something happen. "It's just the full package," says Sue Bird, the WNBA's all-time assists leader and Taurasi's teammate in college, on five Olympic teams, and for seven seasons in Russia. "You add on some swag to that, some [trash] talking to that. The more you piss her off, the better she plays. People are entertained by that."

What's Next? 

"What's next is the question that I still don't have the answer for," says Taurasi. "I enjoy taking my kids to school, being home when they're home, not leaving for a week at a time." Taurasi and her wife Penny Taylor a former teammate with the Mercury who played internationally for Australia and is a member of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Hall of Fame, have two children, Leo, who turns, 7 on March 1, and Isla, 3. Leo has started playing hoops, and Penny coaches his team. "I'm going to miss the competition," says Taurasi. "I'm going to miss trying to get better every single offseason, I'm going to miss the bus rides and shootarounds, I'm going to miss the inside jokes, I'm going to miss the locker room and the things that come with being on a basketball team. All those things, I'll deeply miss."