For her second Olympics, Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi is traveling light. “I’m pretty plain,” she says. “Sneakers and a toothbrush and I’m ready for Beijing.”
Her parents accompanied her to Athens in 2004, but this Olympics she’s going solo. “I don’t really do entourages well,” says Taurasi, 26. She will, however, be surrounded by some very familiar faces in former UConn teammate Sue Bird1 and fellow Merc Cappie Pondexter.2
“It really is a cool feeling to be able to share something with someone for a long time,” Taurasi says of Pondexter, their UConn-Rutgers rivalry notwithstanding. “We’ve been really good friends and get to play in the WNBA together. We talk about how great it is that we get to go to the Olympics together.”
Taurasi wants to remain free of distractions and focused on the ultimate goal: Olympic gold. Her experiences in Athens and three years of overseas play have helped prepare her for the international game.
“You always have a more comfortable feeling when you’ve done it before,” she says. “You kind of know what to expect. You know how the run around is going to be with the media and Opening Ceremonies and all these demands on you. The bottom line is you’re there to do one thing and that’s to play basketball. You have to take care of stuff but keep in the forefront that we’re there to win a gold medal and try to get back what we lost in Brazil.” The U.S. finished a disappointing third at the 2006 World Championship.3
Chosen as part of the perfect women’s basketball player in the July/August issue of HOOP for her clutch play, Taurasi says she is ready to take that crucial final shot in a close Olympics game. “That’s what you prepare for every day,” she says. “If you’re confident that you’re prepared, then taking that shot is easy. Once you let it go, you really can’t control it.”
No Olympics experience is complete without at least some off-court activity. Of course, she’ll march in the Opening Ceremonies and hopefully see at least a couple of other events.
“I’m going to take it all in as a big old life experience,” she says.—Lois Elfman #40
Bonus Points
1. Taurasi and Bird play together in Moscow, Russia during the WNBA offseason.
2. Pondexter and Taurasi have been playing USA Basketball together for eight years, and they’re intent to improve on the bronze medal they got at the 2001 Junior World Championship. Other future WNBAers on that team were Alana Beard, Shameka Christon and Nicole Powell.
3. The only title Taurasi hasn’t won is a World Championship. She has three NCAA titles, an Olympic gold and a WNBA championship.
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