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Perhaps no woman’s basketball player of all time has ever had as remarkable a run as Diana Taurasi has had for Team USA.
Taurasi has five Olympic gold medals to her name, three more world championships and has played more games for the team (38) than anybody else. She also sits second in all-time scoring for Team USA behind only Lisa Leslie.
But when Taurasi took the court for Team USA on Thursday at the 2024 Summer Olympics against Belgium, she looked every bit of 42 years old.
Taurasi went 0-3 with zero points, zero assists, zero rebounds, one turnover and two fouls in an 87-74 Team USA win that was far closer than it had any business being.
The same Belgium team lost 83-69 in its opening game on Monday.
And while the United States won its 57th consecutive game in international competition and locked up a spot in the knockout rounds, all anybody could talk about was Taurasi.
“Fan of Taurasi but do not understand why she’s getting so much run considering she probably shouldn’t be on the roster,” one fan wrote.
“Diana Taurasi… I respect your career… but you shouldn’t be here,” said another.
Taurasi has had an incredible career. And in any other circumstance, she’d deserve a spot based on that alone. But the USA roster is insanely competitive. So with big names such as Caitlin Clark and Arike Ogunbowale sitting at home, it’s hard to see Taurasi stinking up the joint.
“Honestly, when it comes to that stuff it really doesn’t have much to do with your game. It’s really about who they feel like fits with the team,” Ogunbowale said of the selection process. “I could already tell that wasn’t the type of vibe they want. So I actually took my name out the pool months ago.”
Team USA is good enough that Taurasi probably won’t cost them a gold medal. But it’s sad that we’re at a point where it’s even a consideration.