Diana Taurasi's Cryptic Three-Word Retirement Rumor Post Debunked by ESPN
As of Monday, the women's basketball community thought they had no idea whether Diana Taurasi would play another season in the WNBA.
What's for sure is that whenever she decides to call it quits, Taurasi will go down as one of the greatest to ever play the sport — regardless of gender. After all, it's hard to deny the accolades of someone who has won three WNBA titles, two WNBA Finals MVP trophies, played in 11 All-Star Games, and won a record six Olympic Gold Medals.
So the only debate about Taurasi at this point is whether she'll ever grace the basketball court again. And fans seemed convinced that this question was answered when Taurasi made an Instagram post on Monday that featured several ads with her face that included the emojis "☝️last 💃," which would presumably mean 'one last dance'.
Taurasi's caption on the post was, "Keep ‘em guessing".
While this advertisement (which is for Instagram's 'Notes' feature) got countless fans' hopes up that Taurasi had decided to return for one more season, ESPN writer Michael Voepel set the record straight when he posted on X, "The Instagram ad with Diana Taurasi was done before the WNBA season ended and has appeared elsewhere before today. It’s not intended as a 'message' about her future plans or anything else, her agent told ESPN."
The Instagram ad with Diana Taurasi was done before the WNBA season ended and has appeared elsewhere before today. It’s not intended as a “message” about her future plans or anything else, her agent told ESPN.
— Michael Voepel (@MAVoepel) November 5, 2024
Well, so much for that. While this is a pretty egregiously misleading advertisement, perhaps Instagram deserves some respect for finding a way to capture our attention.
Maybe fans now discussing her presumed return will now be enough to convince Taurasi to make one last dance. But we'll have for hear it from her directly next time.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.