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In her sixth Olympic Games, Diana Taurasi is the vet even among Team USA vets. At 42, she will be the oldest member of the 12-player women’s basketball team, and in the history of USA Basketball’s program, few have committed more than Taurasi.
She is well known on the Olympic and international stages, but that wasn’t always the case. In 2004, shortly after the Phoenix Mercury made her the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft, Taurasi arrived in Colorado ahead of the Athens Games as the youngest member of Team USA’s Olympic team. Headlined by three-time Olympians Lisa Leslie, Dawn Staley and Sheryl Swoopes, that squad was an experienced team in the hunt for the program’s third consecutive Olympic gold medal.
So, it raises the question: We know what Taurasi is like now, as the vet, but what was she like in her first Olympic appearance? The Athletic asked some members of that team for their “Best Diana as a rookie” story from Athens. Their stories did not disappoint.
(Note: Anecdotes have been lightly edited for clarity and length.)
Van Chancellor, 2004 Olympic team head coach
My whole concern was winning the gold medal. I wasn’t about the politics or what you had done in the past. I just wanted the 12 best…
