Diana Taurasi announces her retirement while Caitlin Clark, LeBron James and other stars celebrate her emblematic career

• After 20 seasons in the WNBA, Diana Taurasi decided to withdraw from professional basketball

• After the announcement, stars such as LeBron James and Vanessa Bryant celebrated the top scorer in the WNBA by receiving tribute articles on social networks

• While Taurasi has not shared final plans on the next step for her, she noted that she wanted to take advantage of this time with her family

WNBA star Diana Taurasi announced her retirement, which prompted a wave of tributes from her colleagues legends of basketball like LeBron James And Caitlin Clark.

“I just didn’t have it in me,” said Phoenix Mercury Guard, 42 Time In an exclusive interview which took place on Tuesday, February 25 on its decision to move away from competitive basketball.

Taurasi usually begins to prepare the training camp on January 1, but it was not ready this year.

“It was pretty much when I knew it was time to go away,” she noted in the magazine.

“Mentally and physically, I’m just full,” she continued. “This is probably the best way to describe it. I am satisfied and I am happy.

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The news has repercussions in the world of professional basketball. The top scorer in the WNBA is the first player to win six Olympic gold medals, according to USA Basketball. Her curriculum vitae is filled with awards and honors, most of which won after being drafted by Mercury in 2004 – the same year when she was the number one draft of the WNBA. The quadruple female athlete of the winning American basketball year changed the league with her elite talent and her competitive spirit, bringing more fans to sport.

“My score record, or the six gold medals, someone will come who is the same hunger, the same dependence on basketball, and has put these records in a different way, a different name,” said Taurasi Time of its distinctions. “This is what sport is used for. It’s going to be fun to watch. Let’s not hope so soon.

Other high -level athletes recognize its goat energy. The friend of Taurasi, LeBron James, spoke to the magazine of his historic career.

“The simple fact of seeing her transcend the game, to watch the little girls want to play like her, her style, her flair, her bravado, you know, her boastful, it was an incredible treat,” said the legend of Los Angeles Lakers, 40 Time. “She is one of the biggest of all time, and she will leave her mark on the basketball game when she attaches these shoes and throws them on the pole. It was an honor. All love. “”

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When Taurasi’s decision was released on Tuesday evening, Caitlin Clark, 23, published the news on her Instagram History and reacted with a word: “legend”.

Kobe Bryantwidow, Vanessa Bryantposted a video tribute in which she called Taurasi the “White Mamba”, referring to the nickname of her late husband “Black Mamba”.

“Kobe called you the” White Mamba “for a reason,” said Vanessa, 42, in the video highlighting the emblematic Taurasi career. “You are a cold killer on the field, who is fiercely competitive, and you have changed the game for everyone.”

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With such a successful career that ends now, Taurasi wants to focus on her family when she discovers her next chapter. The star of the WNBA shares two children with his wife Penny Taylor, who was also a Mercury player.

“I really like to take my children to school, be at home when they are at home, don’t go for a week at a time,” said Taurasi Time.

The basketball legend is ready for a break, but she noted that she was going to miss the match.

“I’m going to miss the competition,” she continued Time. “I will fail to try to improve each off -season. I will miss the bus journeys, the shots. I will miss the interior jokes. I’m going to miss the locker room, things that come with a basketball team. All these things, I’m going to miss deep.

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