Three-time WNBA Champion, nine-time WNBA All-Star, two-time WNBA Finals MVP and 2009 WNBA MVP Diana Taurasi today authorized a multi-year agreement with the Phoenix Mercury, the group has introduced. " WNBA gamers are a lot more equipped and in control of their careers than ever before, and it is an extremely important statement that Diana Taurasi has actually picked to re-sign with the Mercury once again," said Mercury General Supervisor Jim Pitman. "Diana has given her whole occupation to our organization and community, and we don't consider provided her unmatched influence on basketball in the Valley. Her commitment to obtaining back on the court in 2014, and the degree of play we saw from her in the Wubble, make us positive she has much more All-WNBA days in advance of her. "" As I have actually claimed before, as long as Diana wants to play in the WNBA, we want her in a Mercury uniform. She is the heart of our franchise business, the very first face on our Mount Rushmore, the most effective winner and rival in the ladies's game. The trajectory of our organization altered the day we composed her 17 years back, and we are fired up she will certainly be here right into the future. " GM Jim PitmanCOMEBACK SEASON: Despite undergoing back surgery that kept her out of just about 6 video games in 2019, the 38-year-old Taurasi returned last period to lead the Mercury to the organization's fifth-best document regardless of an injury-depleted roster. Taurasi led the group in scoring and assists, balancing 18. 7 points, fifth-most in the WNBA, and 4. 5 aids, eighth-most. In 19 video games played, she scored 20 or even more 8 times, including a season-high 34 points while wearing Kobe Bryant's No Kahleah Copper Jersey. 8 jersey on Aug. 23, in honor of what would have been the tale's 42nd birthday celebration. For the 10th time in her occupation, she led the league in three-pointers made, yet really did not live outside either, leading all WNBA guards in free-throw efforts per game. She balanced 25. 5 points in the : Taurasi is a three-time WNBA Champion, a three-time NCAA Champion while at UCONN, a four-time Olympic Gold Champion with Team USA, and a six-time EuroLeague champion while overseas. She is among simply five gamers in Olympic basketball background to win 4 gold medals and can go with her 5th, together with Bird, in 2021. Taurasi has actually led the Mercury to the 3 best routine seasons in franchise history, consisting of a WNBA-record 29-win season in 2014. One of the biggest winners in basketball background, Taurasi has a career record of 14-2 in playoff series-deciding video games in the WNBA playoffs. She carries a 20-7 career record in playoff elimination video games, consisting of an 8-2 mark when traveling, and is 51-8 total in her basketball career in elimination AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT: Taurasi has been a WNBA All-Star all 9 times possible in her career. She has actually won more Finals MVP Honors than regular season MVP honors, similar to her idolizer, the late Kobe Bryant. The Mercury's all-time franchise leader in 16 groups, Taurasi has been elected to the All-WNBA First Team a league-record 10 times, while her 4 Junior varsity responds provide her the WNBA record of 14 looks on an All-WNBA Group. After being called to the WNBA All-Decade Team Honorable Reference list in 2006, Taurasi was recognized as one of the 15 greatest players in WNBA history throughout the league's 15th anniversary celebration in 2011 and again in 2016 when she was called among the 20 best gamers in organization history throughout the WNBA's 20th season party. She has been recognized as the USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year an extraordinary 4 times, and was the 2004 WNBA Newbie of the Year after being selected No. 1 total by Phoenix in the SCORER AND SHOOTER: The greatest specific marker in the background of the ladies's video game, Taurasi is the WNBA's all-time leading marker in both regular period and postseason play, and rests atop the organization's all-time three-point basket graphes in both the regular season and playoffs.