"Legend. Goat. Winner": Angel Reese lavishes praise for Diana Taurasi with wholesome throwback video

WNBA rookie Angel Reese played against 20-season veteran Diana Taurasi after being picked in the 2024 draft. Reese's rookie season would be the last for the Phoenix Mercury icon, as Taurasi announced her retirement on Tuesday.

In the wake of this announcement, the Chicago Sky forward went on Instagram to pay tribute to Taurasi's legendary career.

"LEGEND. GOAT. WINNER. Thank you DT," Reese wrote in the caption for her story.

Angel Reese pays tribute to Diana Taurasi. Credit: Reese/IG

In her first four seasons, Taurasi bagged the 2004 Rookie of the Year Award, three All-Star Game nods and four All-WNBA selections.

After this, the former UConn standout won three WNBA titles, two Finals MVPs and the 2009 MVP award. In the 2020s, Taurasi made the All-Star team twice, taking the career tally to 11.

Though the Sky and the Mercury faced each other three times in the 2024 season, Reese only got to play against Taurasi twice, as she missed the third meeting due to injury. Reese averaged 15.0 points and 17.5 rebounds while Taurasi had 17.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists in those two games. Both times, the Mercury came out on top.

Angel Reese gets career advice from WNBA legend

Earlier this month, Angel Reese soaked in the wisdom of another WNBA legend on the "Unapologetically Angel" podcast.

On the Feb. 13 episode of the podcast, Basketball Hall of Fame member Lisa Leslie talked about the importance of maintaining professionalism in the league:

"I've never been outworked in practice," Leslie told Reese. "I'm not a person who sits on the sidelines...I don't have my foot in the bucket because my toe hurts, because I had heels on last night. That's not me." [Timestamp - 1:21]

Leslie added that she constantly refused to go to events if she had a game the next day. To her credit, Reese listened intently as the two-time WNBA champion told stories from back in the day.