Diana Taurasi Quotes

As long as I’m playing at a high level, and I deserve to be out there, then I’ll always put that U.S.A. jersey on. There’s nothing better than that, no matter how many times you’ve done it.

People say, ‘How would you do in the men’s game?’ I say, Give me a man’s frame, and I think I’d do O.K.

I didn’t do an individual workout until I was 25.

The thing about Russia? Everyone is Russian. They’re just Russian. They’re Russian.

I never complain when I foul, ever.

I just have this inner insecurity that I’m never good enough.

I like the Ronaldo Flyknits even though I’m a Messi fan.

Some people have knees, ankles. It’s always been my back. That’s been one thing I’ve always had to be conscious about strengthening and being in rehab. Pretty much I’ve always rehabbed it.

I am bilingual.

On the nights the Lakers played, I wouldn’t miss a second of the game. Every timeout, every commercial, I’d run to the front yard to imitate my favorite Laker, Kobe.

You have to have people around you that motivate you that you want to play really hard for and always play at the highest level.

I am very much the daughter of immigrants. It’s both a point of pride and an essential part of characterizing my upbringing. We spoke Spanish in our house. We listened to Spanish music. All of the TV channels we watched were in Spanish. We ate mostly Italian and Argentinian food.

For as many championships that I’ve won, I’ve been on a lot of teams that haven’t won one.

If anything, when you play against family, you never want to lose, whether it’s your sister or it’s your best friend. When you know that person so well, at the end of the day, you want to beat them.

The minute you get in a five-game series, you start thinking strategy, you start thinking about adjustments. Single elimination, you’ve got to go all out, all-in. I think that affects the coaching, it affects the playing, it affects the psyche going into the game.

My dad woke up at 5:30 every morning – every single day – and drove an hour-and-a-half to work. My mom was constantly working odd jobs, whether it was at Sizzler or babysitting. I didn’t realize how hard they worked. Most kids rarely do. But they were building something for us.

I can say I want to be known as the prettiest player ever but I don’t control that, the people control that. So all I can do is show up to work every day and give my best.

I’ve played in four Olympics. I’m grateful for that.

I’m going to do everything I can to play at a high level. I say this to a lot of my good friends: ‘The minute you see that I suck, tell me and I’m out.’ Instead of lying to me, someone let me know!

I fell in love with the LeBron 10s, I wore those for about five-and-a-half years and I didn’t switch over until the 14s.

I probably spoke Spanish growing up about 95 percent of the time.

We got to see the world, we’re put on some of the best teams in Europe, we made a lot of money, and then the flip side is it was 12 years of our parents getting older.

I’ve always loved passing the basketball, making other people better.

The way I was playing year-round was breaking me down physically and mentally.

Being a mom makes me prioritize the game of basketball for what it is – a game. For so long I was so addicted to it and it would get me really high or really low. Now I know that once I walk off the court, I can’t control that anymore and I have other things I have to focus on and give my attention and love to.

I now know I can live without basketball.

Being loyal through thick and thin, ups and downs, it makes the special moments that much more special.

I always say there’s a couple things that I look at when I’m playing basketball. Do I enjoy going to the gym? Do I enjoy being in the locker room? When I get on the court do I still have that competitive fire to hate the person I’m playing against?

I have been really lucky to learn and play with the best in the game. It makes one go to a different level.

The year-round nature of women’s basketball takes its toll and the financial opportunity with my team in Russia would have been irresponsible to turn down. They offered to pay me to rest and I’ve decided to take them up on it.

As you get older, you get less people to hold you accountable, especially in pro sports. The players have all the power. Unless you play for the Spurs. Then you’re a college kid for life.

I’ve gone left 90% of my career, guess what, I still go left.

I just knew I wanted to play basketball for as long as I could.

I didn’t set out to win Olympic medals, to play at UConn, to play in the WNBA. I just loved to play basketball. It’s really very simple. Then when you start thinking about those other things, that’s when thinking gets complicated.

It means a lot to be in one place for my whole career. The minute I got drafted in Phoenix, I knew it was a place I was going to be for a long time. But we know in the sports world and life in general, you don’t know where it takes you sometimes.

I played because I love to compete. I love being on the court.

I heard I was the self-proclaimed White Mamba, which I can say I have never self-proclaimed myself anything.

I go to sleep every single night thinking I’m not good enough. I really do. I don’t know if that’s healthy or not. But I really do have a fear of not being good, and I don’t like that.

The one thing I’ve learned from other great players is that you are what you do every single day.

When you’re young, you want to put up the numbers, you want to be ‘the man.’

I always wanted to be a dentist.

Basketball is really important to a lot of people in the U.S., and no one takes it more serious than women.

If you like basketball, you enjoy watching good basketball. And if you don’t like watching good basketball, go watch rowing.

Any league that talks about that – they care about their players – is lying.