If that was it for Diana Taurasi, it felt like the first time...and every unforgettable time after that

If this is it....

It was the phrase that hung over the entire week leading up to the Phoenix Mercury‘s final home game of the season. Thursday’s matchup with the Seattle Storm wasn’t just a regular-season finale; After 20 years in the WNBA, it may have been Diana Taurasi’s final regular-season home game in front of the X-Factor.

But as DT said herself after the game: “If it is the last time, it felt like the first time.”

The end result of the game — an 89-70 loss — didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. Neither did Taurasi’s final stat line of 9 points on 3-of-9 shooting.

Instead, it was the kind of rare occasion in basketball where the emotion could be felt through the TV screen. The kind that goes beyond the confines of the court. The kind that allows a fanbase, a city and any basketball fan to reminisce and revere a living legend whose time in the league may unfortunately be coming to an end soon.

Taurasi would probably be the first to remind everyone that the Mercury are still playoff-bound, so even if she decides to hang it up after the season, this might not have been her final game in Phoenix. But the 7-seeded Merc (19-21) have a date with the 2-seeded Minnesota Lynx (30-10), and they’d have to win one of the first two games on the road to force a decisive Game 3 back in the Valley.

Regardless of what comes next for Phoenix in the playoffs, it would’ve been an emotional day. Even last week, when former Phoenix Suns legend Shawn Marion and broadcaster Ann Meyers Drysdale spoke with PHNX Sports at the Jerry Colangelo Basketball Hall of Fame Golf Classic, it was clear how special the night would be as they tried to describe what DT meant to the Mercury and the city of Phoenix.

“It’s hard to put into words,” Drysdale said. “I mean, that’s how special she is, that’s how important she’s been to not only the Phoenix Mercury and the Suns, but to the community. And I think to watch her play, I’ve been very fortunate to see her in California in high school when she was growing up, and then at Connecticut, and then to come to Phoenix and really put her roots here.

“And over the years she’s dedicated over half her life to USA Basketball. To win six Olympic gold medals is outstanding obviously, and she is too — not just as a player, but as a person. I just feel honored to be her friend.”

“Listen, Diana is a bad girl, man,” Marion added. “I was here when she came in, and I got so much love and respect for her, man. She got another gold medal this summer, she’s the winningest gold medalist I think in Olympic history, man. Especially on basketball, she’s special, man. She’s the all-time leading scorer in the WNBA, and man, what more can you say about her?

“I’m really, really happy I got a chance to witness some of that, you know what I’m saying? It’s very rare that you get to see a talent of that magnitude do the things she did on the women’s side of the game, and I love it.”

Diana Taurasi’s potential final home game

As for the day itself, the team’s Twitter account got things started with a tremendous video tribute that featured Diana Taurasi’s wife and former teammate, Penny Taylor, her agent, Lindsay Colas, her current teammate, Brittney Griner, and her sister, Jessika Taurasi:

There was an excited buzz in the crowd before the game, and it reached a fever pitch when Taurasi was announced as the final starter. The game itself was put out of reach when Seattle stormed out to a 35-14 lead by the end of the first quarter, but even that couldn’t put a damper on this type of night.

Taurasi’s great friends Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe were in attendance, as well as current Suns Damion Lee and Josh Okogie. Legendary UCONN coach Geno Auriemma was there to give DT a postgame hug too.

And the blowout itself wasn’t enough to stop the X-Factor from making their appreciation known with late-game chants of “DT, DT” that eventually convinced coach Nate Tibbetts to put Taurasi back in for one last curtain call:

When it was time for Diana Taurasi to check out for the final time, she was serenaded with chants of “one more year.”

Even someone who knew nothing about the history of women’s basketball or the Mercury could understand why the X-Factor loves DT so much. The resume speaks for itself: three-time WNBA champ, two-time Finals MVP, one-time regular-season MVP, 11-time All-Star, 14-time All-WNBA selection, six-time Olympic gold medalist, five-time WNBA scoring leader, one-time WNBA assists leader, all-time WNBA leading scorer and fourth on the W’s all-time assists leaderboard.

And that’s without even including that Taurasi is a six-time EuroLeague champ, seven-time Russian national league champ, three-time Russian Cup winner, Turkish national league champ, Turkish Cup champ, three-time NCAA champ and two-time NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player.

Just rattling off her accomplishments alone requires a pause to catch one’s breath. But in her postgame remarks to the crowd, DT didn’t focus on any of that. Instead, the GOAT did her best to pay homage to 20 seasons — and 7,427 days — of being supported by the X-Factor.

“There’s really no place to start, but there’s always a place to finish, and it seems to be in the same place, which, as you guys know, when I got here in 2004, I kinda knew I was gonna be here for a long time,” Taurasi said. “I had a feeling that this was home in a strange and mysterious way. The people here, the city, and thinking back on 20 years and what we’ve done as a franchise, putting banners up in the stands, knowing every single night that when we came into this building, we had you guys behind our back.”

In addition to showing love to the fans, Taurasi shouted out the women who helped pave the way for this league.

“I want to thank every single coach, every single player, every single person that’s put on a WNBA jersey, ’cause it takes a village,” she said. “And our league is about uplifting each other at every turn. And to see where we are now, 28 years later, for the ones who played before this league is where it is now, we’re thankful for you guys, and we’re thankful for the next generation.”

At 42 years old, and after 20 remarkable seasons helping change the WNBA for the better, no one would blame Diana Taurasi if this is it.

But if it is the last time, at least it felt like the first time.