Contrary to popular belief, Diana Taurasi didn’t have a great time as she entered the league. Before becoming the league’s all-time leading scorer and a three-time champion, her first steps into professional basketball weren’t glamorous.
In Amazon Prime’s new docuseries, Taurasi, the Phoenix Mercury icon pulls back the curtain on her rookie year of 2004. The season shattered her many vivid assumptions that dominance at UConn would seamlessly translate into her professional years.
Diana Taurasi’s Struggles In The WNBA Overwhelmed Her
For the player once called “the best there is” by Geno Auriemma, Taurasi faced a reality that sobered her. The WNBA was an entirely different world; she had to start from scratch.
Drafted No. 1 overall after leading UConn to three straight NCAA championships, Taurasi entered a league where experience, physicality, and skill depth were non-negotiable.
“It was a big change. The style of play was different. All of a sudden, you are the young kid and you have to catch up again,” she said.
At UConn, winning was routine for her. But in Phoenix, losing was the new normal. Her first two seasons did not even include a ticket to the playoffs.
She admitted, “When you go to a school like Connecticut, you do a lot of winning. And then you get to the pros, and you do a lot of losing. My first couple of years in the WNBA, we didn’t even make it to the playoffs. That’s just what the pros are. Like, when do you ever win? You think you can control everything, and then all of a sudden, you control nothing when you get to the pros.”
Facing veterans who were stronger, smarter, and better at the time, Taurasi’s first year in the league was a complete survival. But it did get better a little bit every single day.
Her adjustment wasn’t limited to American courts, though. After finishing her degree, Taurasi spent most of her offseasons in Russia, navigating both a new style of play and the isolation of living abroad.
The View praises Russia for paying WNBA players more than in the US.
“They pay better in Russia,” touts Sunny Hostin.
Retiring WNBA player Diana Taurasi proclaims: “I always said I had to be paid like a capitalist in a communist country, which it – boy isn’t that funny, huh?” pic.twitter.com/LuAnrNt5Qp— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) February 26, 2025
For Taurasi, life in Russia was a new perspective and a challenge. Taurasi engaged in that struggle and chose to confront it.
Diana Taurasi Struggled With Finances Like Current WNBA Stars
The docuseries also focused on a different challenge: financial survival in the WNBA. Even as the league’s premier talent, Taurasi earned so little in the U.S. that she relied on overseas contracts to make a living.
“I’m the best player in the world, and I have to go to a communist country to get paid like a capitalist,” she said, recalling her Russian stints. The disparity was so stark that she claims, “The f****** janitor at the arena made more than me.”
MORE: ‘Had To Do Whatever They Wanted’: When Diana Taurasi Was Forced To ‘Act’ for WNBA’s Marketing
Her remarks arrive at a tense moment for the league. Just a few weeks after players wore “Pay Us What You Owe Us” shorts during the 2025 All-Star Game, Taurasi’s comments have amplified calls for pay equity ahead of the expiration of the current CBA.
For a player whose career has spanned two decades and multiple eras of the game, her message is clear: while the league has evolved, the fight for fair compensation remains unfinished for the players.
