Phoenix Mercury

The Phoenix Mercury announced they'll retire Diana Taurasi's No. 3 jersey and induct her into their Ring of Honor during the 2026 WNBA season.

"Diana is the greatest of all time. What she has done over the last 20 years is truly remarkable," team governor Mat Ishbia said. "From championships to MVPs to gold medals, she is one of the most decorated athletes of all time and we're excited to celebrate all she's done for the sport, the franchise and our city with her induction into our Ring of Honor."

Taurasi told Time Magazine's Sean Gregory in February she's retiring from the WNBA after playing 20 seasons in the league, with all 20 coming in Phoenix.

The 42-year-old is one of the greatest players in WNBA history and was officially recognized with the GOAT moniker when the league held a fan vote in 2021. She's the all-time leader in points (10,646) and is fourth in assists (2,394).

Taurasi accumulated a wealth of individual accolades along with her three championships. She's an 11-time All-Star and 14-time All-WNBA honoree. She was also the Finals MVP as well when the Mercury lifted their 2009 and 2014 titles.

The six gold medals Taurasi won at the Summer Olympics with Team USA are unlikely to be duplicated by any other player. She debuted at the 2004 Games in Athens and was included in the squad that traveled to Paris last summer.

From the moment the Mercury legend retired, it was inevitable that her jerseys would hang in the rafters of PHX Arena. She'll be the fifth player to have the distinction, joining Michele Timms, Penny Taylor, Jennifer Gillom and Bridget Pettis.

The Connecticut Sun are finalizing a sign-and-trade to acquire star forward Alyssa Thomas from the Phoenix Mercury, ESPN's Alexa Philippou reported Tuesday.

Philippou reported the full return for the Sun, including the No. 12 pick in the draft:

The transaction cannot be finalized until Feb. 1, per Philippou.

The Sun had exclusive negotiating rights with Thomas after tagging her with a core designation to stop her hitting unrestricted free agency this offseason.

Thomas, who has finished the last three seasons as an All-Star and MVP finalist, is a two-time Defensive Player of the Year runner-up. She helped the Sun reach the WNBA Finals in 2019 and 2022.

The five-time All-Star expressed dissatisfaction with the Sun during the 2024 postseason. The team prepared for their first-round matchup with Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever on a half-court shared with a community center event, a setup Thomas described to The Next Hoops' Noa Dalzell as "the ultimate disrespect."

"It's normal at this point. I mean, Mohegan has to do better," Thomas told Dalzell. "We're [a] professional team. We're competing for playoffs... We need more, we need better to compete at the highest level."

That wasn't the only time Thomas has appeared unhappy with the standards set by the Sun organization. She said after winning a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics with Team USA that the experience had showed her the Sun were "super behind" in terms of practice facilities (h/t NBC Sports Boston's Justin Leger.)

The Mercury, meanwhile, opened a $100 million practice facility ahead of the 2024 WNBA season. Access to those facilities might have encouraged Thomas, who had to acquiesce to any potential sign-and-trade, to agree to the move to Phoenix.

Thomas heading to Mercury could help convince her partner and former Sun teammate DeWanna Bonner to sign in Phoenix as well. Bonner hit unrestricted free agency after the 2024 season.

The departure of Thomas and the potential exit of Bonner mark the end of an era for the Sun, who have reached the semifinal in five straight seasons with the duo on the team.

The Mercury roster is also in flux with Brittney Griner hitting free agency and Diana Taurasi potentially retiring. Should Griner and Taurasi both leave, the Mercury could theoretically build around a new core of Thomas and potentially Bonner.

Natasha Cloud will at least bring loads of experience to the roster as a nine-year veteran who won the 2019 title with the Washington Mystics. She has also been named to the All-Defensive team three times in her career.

Rebecca Allen could also provide depth after averaging 7.4 points per game last season.

The news marks the second blockbuster WNBA trade reported by Philippou this week, following the news of a three-team trade that sent Jewell Loyd to the Las Vegas Aces and Kelsey Plum to the Los Angeles Sparks.

Free-agent center Brittney Griner is meeting with "multiple teams" as she ponders her next contract, according to the Associated Press' Doug Feinberg.

Feinberg noted this is a departure from the past, when Griner simply re-signed with the Mercury rather than seriously entertain outside interest.

The 10-time All-Star is currently plying her trade in Unrivaled, the three-on-three league co-founded by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier. She and Phantom Basketball Club have dropped their first two games to open the inaugural season.

Beyond giving players a lucrative offseason alternative to going overseas, Unrivaled is probably a welcome addition in the eyes of WNBA front-office personnel. So many of the top stars are now stationed in one city with the window to begin negotiating window opening Tuesday.

"There's a ton of free agents here," Stewart said to Feinberg. "It's like a one-stop shop to kind of do everything."

Mercury guard Natasha Cloud also told Feinberg Unrivaled "is the best place to be able to recruit free agents" for your current team.

Griner is almost certainly getting some overtures from Phoenix teammates in addition to players from other franchises. She continued to assert herself as one of the WNBA's better centers in 2024 by averaging 17.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks.

The 34-year-old has spent her entire career with the Mercury and could follow the lead of Diana Taurasi and be a Phoenix lifer. But there are probably greener pastures elsewhere.

The Mercury went 19-21, finishing seventh and suffering a first-round sweep at the hands of the Minnesota Lynx. Signing Cloud and acquiring Kahleah Copper from the Chicago Sky did little to raise the team's ceiling, in part because so much is oriented around the 42-year-old Taurasi.

Should Taurasi retire, Griner might feel less compelled to stick around. Taurasi's return, meanwhile, could give her pause about the Mercury's immediate fortunes.

Pretty much everyone in the WNBA is operating on a one-year basis with a new collective bargaining agreement coming down the pike at some point. Few players will want to sign a contract that reflects the league's current financial climate and not the one where the salary cap is significantly higher thanks to a lucrative media rights contract.

Signing Griner will be a way for a contender to get a lot better in the short term.

Arguably the greatest women's basketball player in the history of the sport isn't sure if she will hang up the sneakers ahead of the 2025 WNBA season.

"I don't take retirement lightly," Phoenix Mercury star Diana Taurasi told Doug Feinberg of the Associated Press on Tuesday. "I know the minute I say it or announce it, whether it's, you know, in a month or two months, I'm going to mean it. I talk to (wife) Penny (Taylor) and the Mercury, so I'm still in the thought process."

Taurasi first became a household name during her collegiate career when she led the UConn Huskies to three national titles as a three-time All-American and two-time Naismith Award winner.

Phoenix selected her with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 WNBA draft, and the rest is history.

Her WNBA resume includes three championships, two WNBA Finals MVP awards, the 2009 league MVP, five scoring titles, the 2004 Rookie of the Year, 14 All-WNBA selections and 11 All-Star Game nods.

Nobody in league history has more points (10,646), field goals (3,341), made three-pointers (1,447) and made free throws (2,517). She is also fourth all-time in assists (2,394) and second all-time in games (565) and minutes played (17,322).

Taurasi could pass former college teammate Sue Bird in games (580) and minutes (18,080) if she returned for the 2025 campaign.

"I have not taken it lightly. I think about it every day," Taurasi said of potential retirement. "You know, I'm still in deep thought about it. I want to make the right decision, you know, and I'm just taking my time a little bit. And, you know, sometimes when the season ends, the last thing you want to think about is the next season."

She was still effective in 2024 at age 42 as an All-Star who averaged 14.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game while helping lead the Mercury to the playoffs. Taurasi was also a member of the United States women's basketball team at the 2024 Paris Olympics and won her sixth gold medal.

There is no doubting her place in basketball history as an all-time great, but she still might look to add to her legacy in 2025.

Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner is the newest player to sign on for the Unrivaled basketball league.

Unrivaled is a three-on-three league co-founded by the New York Liberty's Breanna Stewart and Minnesota Lynx's Napheesa Collier. It will run during the WNBA's offseason, with the inaugural campaign tipping off in January.

Griner is coming off another impressive season in the WNBA. She averaged 17.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks.

The nine-time All-Star is the 24th player to sign with Unrivaled, with six more spots to be announced. The Chicago Sky's Angel Reese, Seattle Storm's Jewell Loyd and Skylar Diggins-Smith and Las Vegas Aces' Kelsey Plum, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young are among the others who have joined the venture.

One aim behind Unrivaled is that players are afforded another avenue to continue competing on the court without having to go overseas.

Players have long maintained a grueling year-round schedule because the salaries on offer outside of the United States far outstrip their WNBA equivalents.

The pendulum is shifting a bit thanks to Unrivaled and Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball, which launched in 2022. Salaries in the WNBA are also set to explode thanks to a new media rights deal that will bring in $200 million annually.

Unrivaled's arrival comes as women's basketball writ large is riding the crest of the wave, one evidenced by the WNBA's massive TV deal. Stewart and Collier are also betting there's an untapped market for fans who want to see the three-on-three format, which has gained more exposure through its inclusion in the Summer Olympics.

Whether it succeeds or fails, the league isn't lacking for star power.

The Phoenix Mercury rallied to earn an 85-81 comeback win on the road over the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday night, but they had to do so without star center Brittney Griner.

While battling for rebounding position after a free throw late in the second quarter, Griner and Sparks rookie Rickea Jackson got into a shoving match that resulted in both of them being ejected from the game:

Griner appeared to take exception to Jackson's arm making contact with her face while they were trying to box each other out. The two of them came face-to-face and shoved one another before Griner was restrained by a member of the Mercury's security detail while Jackson was held back by her teammates.

Prior to her ejection, Griner looked like she was on her way to a dominant performance. She scored 14 points in 14 minutes on 7-of-8 shooting and added three rebounds, two blocks and an assist. Her point total tied with Sophie Cunningham for the team lead despite missing the entire second half. Jackson chipped in eight points across 20 minutes for the Sparks before being removed from the game.

The Mercury made up for Griner's absence by outscoring the Sparks 28-10 in the third quarter before closing out the victory. Diana Taurasi and Natasha Cloud had 13 points apiece as Phoenix's starting five outscored Los Angeles' starters 57-34.

At 19-20, the Mercury clinched the No. 7 seed in the 2024 playoffs and will face the second-seeded Minnesota Lynx in the first round. Griner appears to be peaking at the right time, as she dropped 26 points in back-to-back games before Tuesday's contest.

Phoenix will close out the regular season on Thursday at home against the Seattle Storm.

The significance of representing the United States on the court isn't lost on Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner as she attempts to win a third gold medal in the Summer Olympics.

"It means everything to me honestly," she said to the Associated Press' Doug Feinberg. "For me to now have the honor to wear it again and potentially win gold is icing on the cake for everything."

This time two years ago, Griner remained wrongfully detained in Russia following her February 2022 arrest. She was in custody until that December, returning to the United States as part of a prisoner exchange.

The nine-time WNBA All-Star detailed her ordeal in a May interview with Robin Roberts for Good Morning America. She said she "felt less than a human" given her prison conditions, which included a blood-stained mattress and toothpaste that was so old the prisoners had used it to kill black mold.

Griner also told ESPN's T.J. Quinn the mental cost of her unlawful detainment continued to linger as she struggled to sleep at night for roughly a year after her release.

The 6'9" center didn't miss a beat upon returning to the court in 2023, though, and she remains as effective as ever. Through 15 games, she's averaging 18.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks for the Mercury.

Leading up to the Summer Games, Griner said to NBC News' Rohan Nadkarni and Liz Kreutz she's "happy" and "in a great place."

"I'm representing my country, the country that fought for me to come back," she said. "I'm gonna represent it well."

Team USA will open the Olympics on July 29 against Japan.

Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner and wife Cherelle Griner welcomed a baby boy on July 8.

Griner confirmed the news in a conversation with Terrika Foster-Brasby of She Knows Sports.

The Griners previously announced the pregnancy on Instagram in April.

"He is amazing," Griner told Foster-Brasby. "They say as soon as you see him, everything you thought mattered just goes out the window. And that's literally what happens."

Griner is in Phoenix for AT&T WNBA All-Star 2024. She will represent Team USA in a matchup against WNBA All-Stars on Saturday evening before heading to Paris for the Summer Olympics.

The 10-time WNBA All-Star is looking to win her third straight Olympic gold medal. She starred last time out for Team USA in Tokyo in 2021, averaging 16.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.

The Phoenix Mercury celebrated the official opening of a new $100 million practice facility in downtown Phoenix ahead of WNBA All-Star weekend on Thursday.

The 58,000-square-foot facility features ten baskets and two indoor basketball courts named after Mercury legend Diana Taurasi.

The Diana Taurasi basketball courts feature "built-in courtside technologies that provide real-time performance analytics," according to the team.

The courts also feature a unique logo inspired by Taurasi. Mercury governor Mat Ishbia said the team was "honored to name our basketball courts after the greatest women's basketball player of all time."

The facility additionally features a strength and cardio training area, turf training areas, a sauna and steam room, and a full kitchen with a private chef, the Mercury stated.

Other highlights include hot and cold pools featuring an underwater treadmill, a smoothie bar, a physician room and two massage rooms, the team said.

Josh Bartelstein, CEO of the Mercury and Phoenix Suns, said the facility "sets the standard for what it means to invest in women's sports."

The U.S. Olympic team was the first squad to practice on the new courts, according to the Associated Press' Doug Feinberg. The team includes Taurasi, who will make her record sixth Olympic appearance for Team USA during the Paris Games alongside Mercury teammates Kahleah Copper and Brittney Griner.

The Mercury are not the only WNBA team that has recently unveiled new practice facilities.

The Las Vegas Aces became the first franchise to build a training facility specifically for a WNBA team when the team opened a 64,000-square-foot, $40,000 facility in 2023. The Seattle Storm followed that up by opening a $64 million, 50,000-square-foot practice facility in April.

The newest WNBA practice facility is located in Phoenix's warehouse district within the team member campus for the Player 15 Group, Ishbia's investment company. The campus opened in April as the new headquarters for the Mercury, Suns, the NBA G League affiliate Valley Suns, and Footprint Center operations.

The WNBA All-Star weekend will take place on Friday and Saturday at Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix.