Why did Diana Taurasi retire from WNBA? Looking at 3× WNBA champion's exit from women's league

Diana Taurasi's legendary WNBA career has now come to an end. On Tuesday, news broke that the three-time champion is retiring after 20 seasons.

Taurasi, widely regarded as the WNBA's greatest player of all time (GOAT), announced her retirement to Time. In an article by Sean Gregory, Taurasi said that she doesn't have "it" anymore.

"I just didn’t have it in me," Taurasi told Time. "That was pretty much when I knew it was time to walk away."

Gregory said Taurasi's usual routine for the past 20 years is to prepare for the upcoming WNBA season around New Year's Day. However, this time, she realized she needed to move on. Taurasi also said she is "full and happy" to retire from professional basketball.

"Mentally and physically, I’m just full," Taurasi said. "That’s probably the best way I can describe it. I’m full and I’m happy."

While Diana Taurasi was firm in saying that she won't return to the court, she said she will miss competing at the highest level, including the camaraderie of being on a team.

"I’m going to miss the competition," Taurasi said. "I'm going to miss trying to get better every single offseason. I'm going to miss the bus rides, shootarounds. I'm going to miss the inside jokes. I'm going to miss the locker room, the things that come with being on a basketball team. All those things, I'll deeply miss."

Diana Taurasi's GOAT career

Diana Taurasi played 20 seasons with the Phoenix Mercury and won three championships in 2007, 2009 and 2014. Phoenix selected her with the No. 1 pick in the 2004 WNBA draft. Over the span of her career, fans and analysts have compared her accolades to basketball legends.

"I have a resume," Taurasi said. "It’s not up to me to grade it."

Taurasi has won a record six Olympic gold medals playing for the U.S. women's basketball national team. He won her first gold at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, while she won her sixth and final at the Paris Games last year. She was also part of three U.S. teams that won the FIBA World Cup (2010, 2014 and 2018).

She is also a one-time regular-season MVP, two-time finals MVP, an 11-time All-Star, 14-time All-WNBA selection and a five-time scoring champion. The 6-foot guard also finished her career as the all-time leading scorer (10,646 points) in the WNBA, a record she holds since June 2017.

"My scoring record, or the six gold medals, someone’s going to come around that has the same hunger, the same addiction to basketball, and put those records in a different way, a different name," Taurasi said. "That’s what sports is all about. That’s going to be fun to watch. Hopefully not soon."

When pressed for what's next, the 42-year-old Diana Taurasi told Time she would take a "sabbatical" and spend more time with her family.