Her haters will say that she can’t possibly have that much of an impact at age 42. That she can no longer consistently make her audacious shots. That those shots will instead look foolish and ruin any chance the Phoenix Mercury have of winning in the playoffs.
But Diana Taurasi has made four trips to the postseason past age 35, playing in 20 games, and only once in that time has she had a real dud of a performance from beyond the arc. Other than that 1-for-8 showing in Game 3 of the 2021 Finals, she has shot 27.3 percent or better in every contest and 39.3 percent overall, including an 8-for-11 masterpiece in Game 2 of the 2021 semifinals, without which the Mercury don’t even make the Finals.
What a postseason 2021 was for Taurasi, as she almost captured a championship that would have tied her with fellow GOAT-conversation legends Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes and Maya Moore at four titles. Nobody is a more fierce competitor than Taurasi—at times in excess—as she demonstrated by repeatedly slamming and breaking a door at Chicago’s Wintrust Arena after the Mercury missed out on that title.
DT showed she’s still got it in Game 1
On Sunday, the GOAT was back in playoff action for the first time since she broke that door, and she showed that her hunger for that…
