The WNBA has come a long way from its inaugural season in 1997. While stars with big personalities are considered a marketing jackpot in today’s WNBA, that wasn’t the case in Diana Taurasi’s days.
As Taurasi got real about her playing days on the docuseries ‘Taurasi,’ the Phoenix Mercury legend shared how she had to prioritize the league’s demands over her happiness.
How Did the WNBA Force Diana Taurasi To ‘Act’?
In the early days of the WNBA, bold stars like Taurasi did not receive the appreciation that Paige Bueckers draws today. While the league heavily marketed Bueckers’ dynamic personality upon her arrival this year, back in 2004, it went against the WNBA’s marketing direction.
Speaking on how she was forced to act for the league’s sake, Taurasi shared the sad reality of the league at the time.
“I had to navigate what makes them happy. I get it, we’re trying to sell tickets here. But it was all an act. I had to do whatever they wanted so that I could go play basketball,” Taurasi said.
“The f*cking janitor in the arena made more than me.”- Diana Taurasi pic.twitter.com/JArQpxCYHO
— OutKick (@Outkick) August 7, 2025
In order to play in the league, Taurasi had to be doing a lot more off the court. And while advertising the players remains a mammoth part of today’s WNBA as well, Taurasi was forced to be someone she wasn’t just so the league could grow.
“In the early days of the WNBA, they felt they had to capture a cookie-cutter audience that they thought was gonna bring in the bigger dollars and make advertisers happy,” said sports reporter Kate Fagan. “Everybody had to be presented as straight, hyper-feminized, mainstream, pretty, quiet women”
Fagan’s statement is backed by incidents from the time when Taurasi was made to dress in a certain way to appease the league and its investors. Jessika Taurasi, Diana’s sister, shared one such incident from draft night in the docuseries.
“When Dee went to the WNBA Draft, she wore this weird pantsuit with like a really low-cut shirt, had her hair down. She looked like a Barbie doll,” Jessika said, “She’s like, I don’t know if I like this.”
While Taurasi was forced to oblige to stay in the league, her UCONN teammate, Sue Bird, believes the league was heading in the wrong direction all along. A missed opportunity that could’ve possibly fast-tracked the league’s growth.
Read More: WNBA Icon Sue Bird Makes Deeply Emotional Confession About Former UConn Teammate Diana Taurasi
“Where Dee was just incredibly under-marketed was the swag, was the confidence, was the one-liner. Diana has the biggest personality; she was the WNBA’s jackpot. But she never get the chance to really live into that. They were trying to go in the opposite way of what Dee was bringing,” Bird said.
As the league’s players are now flying charter and negotiating for what they’re owed in the upcoming Collective Bargaining Agreement, the players must remember that the ground for negotiations that they stand on today wouldn’t have existed if not for Taurasi’s commitment to the league’s growth.
