Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. Let’s take a look at how the ladies in the WNBA are doing!
Diana Taurasi honors her late friend, Kobe Bryant.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Stephen Gosling/Getty Images.)
Many basketball fans call Kobe Bryant the GOAT. Kobe Bryant, who was a huge women’s basketball advocate, became friends with Diana Taurasi. Diana Taurasi is considered by many to be the GOAT in women’s basketball.
So on Kobe’s birthday Sunday, she wore the #8 and his name on the back of her jersey. And Taurasi showed why she was the GOAT.
Diana continues to have an unparalleled offensive game. Even at the twilight of her career. The drives. The pull-ups. The catch-and-shoots. It was all on display against the Mystics. And most basketball fans know that this is not a rare occurrence.
Taurasi finished with 7 three-pointers and a season-high of 34 points. It’s a fantastic way to honor Bean. It’s not just the scoring, mind you, but just using everything to win the game. It’s why Kobe himself called Diana, “White Mamba.”
It’s no accident that Kobe became friends with Diana. Again, Kobe was a huge advocate for women’s basketball. And Kobe likely saw a lot of himself in Taurasi. Taurasi has been a fierce and badass competitor her entire career. She helped UConn to three straight national championships. She has countless WNBA accolades. That includes three championships, 5 scoring titles, two Finals MVP awards, an assist title, one MVP award (surprisingly, really), and all-time WNBA scoring leader. And it’s not even close, really. Diana has 8,774 career points and second place is Tina Thompson with 7,488.
I’m also aware that she has been in the league since 2004. At some point, she’s going to call it a career. And maybe she’ll transition to something else just like Kobe did after he retired from the NBA. I’m sure she has that Mamba Mentality as well so she’s going to do great in whatever she decides to do.
But for now, I’m going to keep enjoying Diana be a badass on the court.
Bullet Passes
Maybe luck finally ran out on the Lynx as the Dream finally won a game, snapping their 10-game skid. Betnijah Laney continues to make her case for Most Improved Player as she went for an impressive 16-8-10. The thing was that the Lynx actually led by 14 early in the game but they somehow couldn’t keep the lead. Minnesota’s 3-game win streak is over.
The Sparks have now won 7 in a row after escaping the Dallas Wings. Candace Parker had an incredible game at 22-14-6.
Good to see Satou Sabally on the court after dealing with her back injury for nearly the last two weeks. She came off the bench and scored 6 points and grabbed 9 boards. She’ll be brought in slowly, I’m sure.
Brittney Sykes of the Sparks scored 23 in that win over the Wings. She has averaged 17 points in her last three games. She has been really instrumental in L.A.’s winning streak.
Double U Scoreboard
ATL 78 (3-11) v MIN 75 (9-4)
DAL 81 (5-9) v LA 84 (10-3)
PHX 88 (7-7) v WAS 87 (4-9)
Watch This Play
Mercury do it defensively and Bria Hartley puts away the Mystics.
🤩 BIG-TIME @Breezyyy14 🤩#BradentonArea pic.twitter.com/TvAOT2jLkU
— WNBA (@WNBA) August 24, 2020
Phoenix is back on their winning ways.
Stay safe in the Wubble!
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
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