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The basketball fraternity has been gathering to give its flowers to Diana Taurasi after the 42-year-old announced her retirement from the game on Tuesday. Spending 20 years with the Phoenix Mercury, the three-time WNBA champion was shown love by multiple stars including NY Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu who had a heartfelt two-word response to the legend retiring.
"Thank You," she wrote in a heartfelt manner.
One of the Liberty guard's stories was of them at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The image showed both women flexing their gold medals.
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Ionescu and Taurasi were a part of the 2024 Team USA women's basketball team which brought home gold after defeating the hosts France in a tight game. The victory in Paris was the Liberty star's first Olympic victory while the 42-year-old made history by becoming the only woman basketballer to win six Olympic gold medals.
Diana Taurasi's two-worded advice once helped Sabrina Ionescu's team make history
During the 2019-20 collegiate season, Sabrina Ionescu and the Oregon Ducks were the team to beat as they dominated the women's game in the country. She and her teammate Satou Sabaly were a dangerous duo and were given a chance to prove their mettle against the big guns as they hosted Team USA in an exhibition game at Matthew Knight Arena.
Diana Taurasi, who was a part of the USA team, reportedly spent an hour with the Oregon team the night before their match and advised them with two words:
"Stay mad."
Ionescu and company took that advice seriously as history followed the next day. The Oregon Ducks became the first women's collegiate team to beat Team USA in over 20 years as they won by a score of 93-86. The 2020 Naismith Player of the Year thanked Taurasi for her advice after the game.
"Diana told us to stay mad, we didn't want to come out complacent. We didn't want to come out excited we were only down four at half. So, we came out in the third quarter, and we stayed mad, just like she told us. So, thank you to her for helping us with that win," Ionescu expressed after the emphatic win.
This historic win set the tone for the Ducks for the rest of the season. While they didn't win the NCAA crown, Ionescu was awarded the Player of the Year and finished her collegiate career as the all-time leader in triple-doubles in NCAAW history.
