Taurasi marries ex-teammate, signs extension with Phoenix

The past few days have been big moments for Diana Taurasi. The first news came a couple days ago when she addressed she recently married her former teammate Penny Taylor, who is now the Director of Player Development at Phoenix.

For some learning they have married it is more an “it finally happened moment” while others it is “I didn’t know they were dating.” For a few years, Taurasi and Taylor were teammates, but they didn’t allow their relationship to be a distraction. In fact, they helped bring home three championships to Phoenix.

“We never kept it secret, we just didn't want that to be an issue ever. We knew when we walked through those doors, it was time to put work in and be professional," stated Taurasi on dating her former teammate.

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Taurasi continued, “Just an amazing day, one of the happiest days we've ever had. It was one of the times where all our families were together, all the people we love and care for in the city that we met and evolved as teammates and wives now. It's been pretty cool."

The good news doesn’t stop there for Taurasi, though. Earlier today Phoenix announced she has signed a multi-year contract extension with the franchise. With the extension, Taurasi will remain the face of the team and continue to build on the success she already has produced there.

General Manager Jim Pitman stated this in the Mercury’s press release:

“As long as Diana Taurasi wants to play in the WNBA, we want her in a Mercury uniform. As we’ve said before, she is the heart of our franchise, the first face on our Mount Rushmore, the best winner and competitor in the women’s game. The trajectory of our organization changed the day we drafted her 13 years ago, and we are excited she will be here into the future.”

Taurasi is a pure winner who has won at all levels of basketball. She has three titles under her belt from her college days at UConn, is also a three-time WNBA Champion, has helped the USA Olympic team win four Gold Medals, and while playing in the Euroleague has won six titles.

She also has three MVP awards under her belt, one in the WNBA regular season and two during the Finals. In Taurasi’s first year in the league, she made some noise immediately as she was named Rookie of the Year in 2004 and she hasn’t stopped winning accolades across the league and the world.

If everything goes as expected (no season-ending injury or cold shooting season), Taurasi is on pace to become the WNBA’s All-Time leading scorer and All-Time three-pointers made leader, as well. She’s a prolific scorer who has shown no signs of slowing down or that she is ready to retire from the game.