Diana Taurasi, seeking 6th gold, sets high Olympic standard

PHOENIX — Diana Taurasi joked after the Tokyo Olympics that she would see everyone in Paris. The 42-year-old guard turned the joke into reality: She will be playing in a record sixth Olympic Games when the U.S. women’s basketball team goes for its eighth consecutive gold medal later this month.

“Why not? I say this all the time: If I sign up to play, I sign up to play,” Taurasi said in a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press. “I don’t love how my last Olympics went personally. I think as a team we still have a lot to prove. I love playing USA Basketball. You play with the best in the world. Basketball is a team sport, and if you have the opportunity to play with the best in the world, I’ll always sign up.”

Taurasi has been a mainstay on the Olympic women’s team since graduating from UConn in 2004 after leading the Huskies to three consecutive NCAA championships. The WNBA’s all-time scoring leader with over 10,000 points, Taurasi is still playing at a high level. The Phoenix Mercury All-Star is averaging 16.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game in her 20th season in the WNBA.

“No one has done it more than her. There’s no substitute for that level of experience,” U.S. coach Cheryl Reeve said. “We’re going to count on her voice, and that experience…