Phoenix Mercury legend Diana Taurasi ranked No. 21 athlete of century

ESPN ranked no WNBA player higher, and several Valley legends — Steve Nash, James Harden, Chris Paul — ranked much lower.

By Zach Buchanan

July 19, 2024

Photo courtesy of Jocelyn Hu

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On Saturday, Phoenix Mercury legend Diana Taurasi will play in her 10th WNBA All-Star Game. Not long after, she'll head to the Paris Olympics with Team USA in search of her sixth gold medal. It could be the swan song for the 42-year-old: After this season, she may retire.

She'll do so as one of the great ones. Now ESPN has attempted to quantify just how great she is.

The outlet published its list of the top 100 athletes since 2000, and Taurasi ranks 21st. She's the highest-ranked women's basketball player on the list.

"She is revered for her longtime leadership of Team USA as well as the Mercury, and for her unwavering swagger," wrote ESPN's Michael Voepel.

Only three female athletes rank ahead of Taurasi: tennis great Serena Williams (2nd), Olympic gymnast Simone Biles (7th) and Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky (15th).

Taurasi is far from the only Phoenix-connected athlete on ESPN's list. All-time great swimmer Michael Phelps, who was born in Maryland but now lives in the Valley, ranked first. Also ranked were current/former Suns players Steve Nash, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Shaquille O'Neal and Jason Kidd. A couple of other Valley short-timers — J.J. Watt (Cardinals) and James Harden (Arizona State) made the list.

Here's where all the Valley athletes ranked on ESPN's list.

1. Michael Phelps, swimmer
Phelps moved to Arizona in 2015 when his trainer, Bob Bowman, was hired by ASU.
17. Shaquille O'Neal, Suns
The Big Diesel spent parts of two seasons with the Suns, making the All-Star team in 2008-09.
21. Diana Taurasi, Mercury
Taurasi is in her 21st and possibly last season with the Mercury.
39. Kevin Durant, Suns
Durant is set to enter his second full season with the Suns, though the team has underachieved during his tenure.
51. Steve Nash, Suns
The greatest Suns player of all time, Nash spent 10 seasons in Phoenix and won back-to-back Most Valuable Player awards.
58. J.J. Watt, Cardinals
The Cardinals got the last two seasons of Watt's career, a pit stop on the way to a Hall of Fame enshrinement.
67. James Harden, ASU
One of the NBA's best scorers, Harden never played professionally in the Valley. But he did star for two terrific seasons with the Sun Devils.
69. Jason Kidd, Suns
The other Hall of Fame point guard the Suns had before Nash, most of Kidd's time in Phoenix came before 2000.
83. Chris Paul, Suns
The Suns' Hall of Fame point guard after Nash, Paul was traded away before the 2023-24 season.

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Zach Buchanan has been the news editor for the Phoenix New Times since April 2024. He's worked as a journalist in Phoenix for more than a decade, and is an alum of both The Athletic and the Arizona Republic. He's a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, and has taught as an associate professor at ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Contact: Zach Buchanan

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