If you know women’s basketball, then you know Diana Taurasi. And if you know Diana Taurasi, then you know she’s a no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is player.
What you likely didn’t know is the 42-year-old Phoenix Mercury guard has battled a skin condition for most of her life.
“Eczema is something that I’ve battled with my pretty much my whole entire life. As a little kid, into college and into the WNBA,” Taurasi told CBS Sports. “It’s something that’s always been on my mind. It’s something that’s always I’ve been very self conscious about for a lot of years.”
It’s hard to imagine anything curbing the confidence of the three-time NCAA champion and WNBA champion. She plays with an intensity that attracts criticism and praise, yet never stops her from being herself on the court. She is the all-time leading scorer and 3-point shooter in WNBA history and just last season she became the first player in league history to reach 10,000 career points — all in a Mercury uniform.
Yet, throughout her entire college and WNBA career, her eczema has made her self-conscious.
“With eczema, everyone has their own journey with it. And mine was filled with a lot of creams and different steroids and lotions,” Taurasi said. “And, it was something that I was always trying to keep at bay. Having friends and family that always support you is key to anything, but this was a self journey of how do I get to a place where I can get it under control and I can feel confident again?
“You have that red itchy skin all the time. You don’t feel like yourself … I don’t know how many times I can count that I’d be sitting there in the starting lineup and I would take my shooting shirt off and I would look down and just see it was going to be one of those days.”
Sweating during exercise can cause painful flare ups for people with eczema, and some doctors suggest switching to low-impact workouts. WNBA and International basketball is decidedly not low impact. Eventually, Taurasi and her dermatologist settled on a new treatment plan.
Today, Taurasi uses Dupixent, a prescription for people six months and older dealing with eczema that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin (topical), or who cannot use topical therapies, the company says. Now that Taurasi has found an approach to her eczema that works for her, she is partnering with the pharmaceutical companies Sanofi and Regeneron to raise awareness.
“I’ve been very self conscious about for a lot of years and being able to partner with Sanofi and Regeneron,” Taurasi said. “It’s just been a great partnership to really tell my story and to let millions know that eczema is a story that can be shared amongst a lot of us.”
Taurasi, who will compete in her sixth Olympics next month, hopes her story can help others. She likened dealing with eczema like transitioning into the NCAA, and again into the WNBA. Recently, she came under heat for saying rookie guard Caitlin Clark would have a tough time adjusting to the pros.
“I was trying — kind of like my story with eczema — really echoing my story entering the WNBA; it’s just a whole different league,” Taurasi said. “It’s a different level of competition … I can circle back to my rookie year and I’m thinking, ‘Man, this is really hard. All the steps in the strides that I took in college. Now, I felt like I was back on Square 1 and I had to relearn all these things in a very short time.”
Taurasi, like Clark, had to endure the brutal circus that is the NCAA championship game to No. 1 overall pick to first WNBA game in less than two months.
“There’s not much prep time,” Taurasi said. “You’re learning on the job and that’s the beauty of our league. It’s the best players in the world, the highest level and it’s not easy, but once you get a hang of it, it feels like a great accomplishment because there’s no league like it.”
For her part, Taurasi learned to not only adapt, but to embrace the WNBA’s physicality.
“I think I got a ‘Welcome to the WNBA’ moment literally every single game and I loved it. I love the competition. I love the competitiveness of every possession and every game,” Taurasi said. “It fuels my fire … there was always those players that just played hard. They played with an edge and if you didn’t come with it, they would eat you up. Iron sharpens iron and they definitely helped me become who I am because they challenged me every single time I hit the court, and I thrived in that type of atmosphere.”
And thrive she did. In addition to topping the WNBA’s all-time scoring list, the UConn alum recently passed NBA great Michael Jordan for the most 20-point games after the age of 40, and she still has another 23-regular season games left with the Mercury this season.
Taurasi ranks 15th among this season’s top WNBA scorers going into her next game against the New York Liberty, who are led by former Mercury coach Sandy Brondello. The longtime duo will also square off in the Olympics when Brondello leads Team Australia and Taurasi plays once again for Team USA.
“It’s always an honor. There’s nothing like playing at the Olympics,” Taurasi said. “I’ve had an opportunity to be on five teams now and I never take it for granted. No one should. Putting that jersey on is representing everyone who’s worked, watched, played, loved basketball in this country, and you never take it for granted.”
As it turns out, the full Team USA roster was announced on DT’s 42nd birthday. After she and Mercury teammates Brittney Griner and Kahleah Copper were celebrated together, the Mercury team brought out a cake to celebrate. They also had a special gag gift, a heavily decorated plastic pink cane.
Before the Paris Olympics, Taurasi and Team USA will take on Team WNBA in the 2024 All-Star Game in Phoenix. Taurasi called the chance to host the All-Star Game and domestic send-off for Team USA in Arizona a dream come true.
“We had the [All-Star Game] here in 2014 and it was just amazing for everyone to come here and enjoy our fans who just love basketball,” Taurasi said. “I was saying earlier that basketball is just woven into the fabric of the city — we’re gonna have an amazing turnout and it’ll be very satisfying to have everyone here in Phoenix and in my home city.”
Some are calling this a send-off, that it might be Taurasi’s last licks for Team USA, the WNBA and perhaps both.
“It just might be,” Taurasi said with a laugh. “You never know!”
For now, we’ll stick with what Taurasi said following her fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal: “See you in Paris.”
