Diana Taurasi, right, and Brittney Griner, second from right, reflect on what made the Phoenix Mercury special during their 2014 run to earn the WNBA title. (Photo by Natalie Lopez/Cronkite News)
PHOENIX – Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner and guard Diana Taurasi are the only two active Mercury players who were on the 2014 WNBA championship team.
Toward the end of a ceremony Friday to honor that group, Taurasi told the crowd at Footprint Center, “Let’s do it again.”
The Mercury have been trying to do it again ever since that 2014 championship, and this year’s club hopes to use that season as motivation to add the organization’s fourth WNBA trophy this season.
“We talked about our 2014 team after our last game, and celebrated them,” Mercury guard Natasha Cloud said Sunday after Mercury’s win over the Sky. “They talked about the unselfishness that was on that team and how they wanted to make their players around them better. And that’s just always who I’ve been as a point guard.
“If DT (Diana Taurasi) hits a 3 off my assist, that’s my three points. That’s just how I see things. So I just always want to make sure that I’m doing my job and making sure my teammates are getting in successful situations from the positions that I put them in.”
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It may be the 42-year-old Taurasi’s last chance to win a fourth championship before she heads into retirement. Taurasi won championships with the Mercury in 2007, 2009 and 2014. She sounded nostalgic and optimistic after the 10th anniversary ceremony.
“It’s gone through an amazing journey,” Taurasi said of the WNBA. “When this league started in 1997, every building was sold out for three straight years, and then, for whatever reason, it lost a little bit of its momentum.
“I’ve seen the ups, I’ve seen the downs. And right now this league is in a great place, as far as attendance, as far as coverage on every social platform, being on TV, I think it’s in a place where it can only get better.
“Anything you do in life when you’re around it, you just want to leave it better. And I think for a lot of us that played for a long time, obviously, (Brittney Griner) now going to a decade, she’s seen it all too. You always want to see it better, and that’s where it’s at right now.”
Griner was in her second season with the Mercury after being drafted first overall in the 2013 WNBA Draft during the team’s championship run.
“I mean, I learned a lot those first few years, especially that year, versus now, seeing how hard it is to get back,” Griner said. “You win one and you think you are just going to be there next year and the following year. Like Dee (Diana Taurasi) said, a lot of roles change, and they are not going to give it to you – you have to go get it.
“Just weathering the storm, figuring out your role from then to now, there are a lot of different role changes. I know one thing, I remember what it takes and we are just trying to get back there.”
That 2014 team finished with a league-best 29-5 record and went on a 16-game winning streak, which is the second longest in WNBA history.
This year’s team has yet to get on that kind of a roll as they’ve dealt with notable injuries, including to Griner, who missed the first 10 games of the season due to a broken toe. Wing Bec Allen was out for two months with a right hamstring strain.
The ceremony for the 2014 team took Taurasi back, and reminded her of the hunger that team had to win a championship.
“This group has not been together in 10 years, obviously we are missing Pree (Candice Dupree),” Taurasi said. “It just takes you back to being in those difficult times in the trenches, training camp. It was just a special team.
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“We all got along really well. We were all at a point in our careers where we were willing to do anything to win. We were desperate to win a championship, it came together beautifully really. It was a fun team to play on. Any given night, anyone could have a big night, that is the beauty of playing on a team. That team really personified that.”
During the offseason, the Mercury brought in Cloud, Allen and Kahleah Copper to compete for a championship. After Cloud signed with Phoenix in February, she expressed a desire to help return the franchise to the heights that Griner and Taurasi experienced in 2014.
“I’m hyped to be coming to the Valley, and be part of building back the Mercury’s dynasty,” Cloud said in February. “D.C. has been my home for nine years and leaving the fans and city isn’t easy, but I’m excited to be part of an organization that values the person and player that I am. I can’t wait to get to Phoenix and get to work with my teammates.”
Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts is heading into his first postseason and hopes that Taurasi and Griner are the thread that will connect the current Mercury squad to that championship mentality.
“For it to be 10 years ago and still have two players here carried over from that, it says a lot about our organization and how they have treated great players and how they have stuck with them,” Tibbetts said on the night of the ceremony.
“I think it is really important for our group to go out and watch this (celebration) and take it in. Once the playoffs start, it is a new season for all of us. We have a chance to make a run, too.”
