Lynx Star Napheesa Collier Wants to End Diana Taurasi's Career
Minnesota Lynx star forward Napheesa Collier has had a busy Sunday.
It started with her finding out that she was the runner-up in the 2024 WNBA MVP voting (losing to Aces superstar A'ja Wilson), receiving 66 of the 67 second-place votes.
Then Collier seemed to take that runner-up finish personally, as she went absolutely ballistic during the Lynx's playoff game against the Phoenix Mercury Sunday afternoon. In Minnesota's 102-95 win, Collier produced 38 points (on an efficient 11-19 from the field) while also adding 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
And Collier didn't stop making waves there. During her postgame press conference, Collier made a comment about Mercury and WNBA legend Diana Taurasi that turned some heads.
When asked about Taurasi — who could potentially be retiring after this season — Collier said, "It seems like it's her retirement tour, I don't know. She has been pretty quiet about it. She is obviously a UConn great, a league GOAT. I feel lucky to have been able to play with her on Team USA and against her," per Desert Wave Media.
“Hopefully we can end her career on Wednesday,” Collier added while laughing.
Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier was asked what Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi may do after the end of the season:
— Desert Wave Media (@DesertWaveCo) September 22, 2024
“Hopefully we can end her career on Wednesday,” Collier said jokingly.#WNBA #WNBAPlayoffs #ValleyTogether #LynxRecognize pic.twitter.com/NFtDNZ6bbU
While Collier clearly didn't mean any disrespect by what she said, Taurasi retiring on Wednesday would mean that her Lynx squad went 2-0 against Phoenix and is heading to the WNBA semifinals, where they'll be matching up against the winner of the Indiana Fever vs. Connecticut Sun series. This is to say that Collier does want to retire Taurasi on Wednesday (given Taurasi is retiring after this season).
If Wednesday does end up being the end of Taurasi's iconic WNBA career, the women's basketball community will surely be showing her a ton of love and respect.
GRANT YOUNG
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.