PHOENIX (AP) — Mula sa screen, nakalusot si Diana Taurasi sa depensa ng Los Angeles Sparks para makapuntos – pinakamahalagang puntos sa kanyang matikas na basketball career.
Kabilang si NBA star Kobe Bryant sa mga nakasaksi at bumati kay Taurasi ng Phoenix Mercury nang maitala ang scoring record sa WNBA. Nalagpasan niya ang dating marka ni Tina Thompson sa naiskor na 7,488 na nagpatibay sa kanyang katayuan bilang ‘Greatest of all Time’ sa women’s basketball.
"When you get to my age, you can't look back, you can't look forward," sambit ni Turasi nitong Miyerkules (Huwebes sa Manila) "If anything, I'm pretty proud to play this much basketball well into my college and professional career.
I've been really lucky: one, being really healthy and two, being around really good people. When I look at it that way, I feel like I'm the luckiest basketball player of all time."
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Hindi lang pinakasuwerte, sa isyu ng pinakamahusay, nasa unahan ng listahan si Taurasi.
Isa siya sa pinakamatikas sa kasaysayan ng NCAA nang kanyang sandigan ang Connecticut sa tatlong national title.
Tinanghal siyang WNBA rookie of the year noong 2004 at naging kampeon nang tatlong ulit sa Mercury at dalawang ulit naging Finals MVP. Tinanghal siyang WNBA MVP noong 2009 at limang ulit na nagwagi ng scoring titles. Kabilang siya sa all-WNBA team ng siyam na ulit at nagwagi ng Olympic gold medal sa apat na pagkakataon.
Kinilala rin ang kahusayan niya sa overseas kung saan nagwagi siya ng limang Euroleague title, dalawang ulit naging MVP at Finals MVP.
"Diana is one of the best players to ever play the game and definitely one of my favorites," pahayag ni Thompson.
Sa edad na 35, malaki ang tsansa na mahila pa niya ang marka. Sa kasalukuyang season, nasa ika-pito siya sa scoring list tangan ang averaged 18.3 puntos tampok ang 41 percent shooting sa 3-point range.
Sa kanyang nilagdaang contract extension, may pagkakataong makalaro pa siya sa 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
"When I signed the extension, it gave me a little bit of a schedule of what I'm thinking," sambit ni Taurasi.
"I just turned 35 and physically and mentally I feel great, but I've talked to a lot of older players and when you get to this age, every month feels like six months, every year feels like four years. I'm just going to play it by ear, hopefully help the Mercury win another championship and the national team is on the table and if I can contribute, I would love to do that, too,” aniya.
