What an incredible achievement! Hopefully Penny can get in her ear and get her to come play in the WNBL before she retires.

You're actually surprised though?

The D-League is a secondary league to the NBA. The WNBA, as the highest women's league is analogous to the NBA, thus the comparisons. It's got nothing to do men v women.

It's not a matter of how the league relates to the NBA. It's about coverage in the media and the level of interest of the general (sports following) public.

It's an interesting comparison with the coverage that the AFLW got here compared to the AFL. There was a lot of coverage in its first season, but I'm not sure the average footy fan really cared because the product/skill level was so inferior..

Why do things like this always have to come down to Man verse Woman it is so stupid.
Respect a player who is the greatest scorer of all time in the best league in the world for her sex.
I do however challenge the comment that should couldnt beat the worst int he NBA or the best int he WNBL - if you are talking skill based ie shooting dribbling passing etc i think she would hold her own. If you are talking jumping ,dunking one on one then there is an obvious physical advantage to a mans game that has nothing to do with skills.

"The D-League is a secondary league to the NBA. The WNBA, as the highest women's league is analogous to the NBA."

Disagree. The NBA is for the best players, full stop. The WNBA excludes the best players in order to give players of one gender the opportunity to play professional basketball, they are very different.

But I agree, why does this conversation need to head down the gender path?

We all know she plays in the women's league, it's not a secret that needs to be revealed and discussed. The point is she is a superstar in that league and should be respected for it.

"The WNBA excludes the best players in order to give players of one gender the opportunity to play professional basketball, they are very different."

The WNBA doesn't exclude the best players, it excludes men. Men just happen to be the best players at the moment ;)

In response to the original post, there was a good deal of fuss made of Taurasi's record in women's basketball circles. Those circles just aren't very mainstream.
I was actually pleasantly surprised when Paul Kennedy mentioned the achievement on ABC news breakfast the following day, but clearly no one else on the show had even heard of Diana Taurasi. (Which is understandable, since the average aussie has probably heard of about 4-5 female players at most. Even Penny Taylor is a stretch when it comes to "well-known" status)

I've been watching the Mercury more to try to see what's in store with Brondello and the Opals. They aren't a very easy team to cheer for. Taurasi was just ejected (again) after a campaign-long continuous jawing at the officiating crew and Griner picked up another tech foul arguing what was clearly an offensive foul on her.

Yeah, they're a frustrating team to be a fan of at times. Even at 35, Taurasi can still play offense at a high level, but she's so undisciplined and has zero commitment to defence. (Having said that, there was nothing at all in that 2nd tech foul that saw her ejected). I feel like Brondello overachieved with the Mercury in 2015, but followed that up by underachieving last season. So far this year they're around where I expected. Maybe a smidge better, as they're doing a good job of using Griner this season. She's probably the 2nd-best player in the league atm, behind Fowles.
Sandy seems a solid enough coach, but to me it feels like her teams perform as per the personalities of the roster rather than to her structure.
Being a 'players coach' in theory should work ok for the mostly experienced players who suit up for the Opals, but I get the vibe that there is no shortage of attitude in the team so I hope she's good at managing the personalities. Can't just trade away problems with the Opals.

Mercury were an absolute shambles up to Diana's record game. Clearly they've had a pow wow (apart from roster change) and have looked good in their last four games - now playing as a team, wherby all players are welcome to be involved. Previously it was like everything had to go through Diana or Griner while the others stood around like second class citizens, such as a couple of last play of game situations that all too pedictably ended with Diana triple teamed in a corner.

Harsh. They were still a .500 team. That's not a shambles.
The Mercury have just 2 players from last season's roster. That's a complete re-build - largely from scraps - and the WNBA pre-season is very short so it was always going to take some time for the team to gel.

Everything still needs to go through BG IMO, because she's the one potentially dominant piece they've got. She is playing with poise and turning into a pretty decent passer out of the post, so it's not like everyone else stands around being useless. Steph Talbot is playing a handy role just by moving, setting good picks, etc.
If they can maintain their place in the upper half of the standings then they'll have exceeded my expectations.

Yes, for sure, Luuuc but it does stand out that other players have lifted their energy and involvment - Talbot, Turner, Mitchell, DRob & Co are scoring at will from cuts, drives, arcs, wherby for a few weeks they had got into a rut of seemingly every time up the floor it was a lob to Griner. They were still getting a couple of wins and LA were lack-lustre in a close one June 10 but it always looked like they were headed for beltings when the true LA & Min came along - that's what I mean by 'shambles'. LA did just that and thumped them on June 18 then Mercury nearly beat Min, looking a heaps better team under what seems a deliberate tweak to bring other players into it.

No the all time leading scorer knew that the remaining games without BG would fall on her shoulders to carry the team and it wasnt likely they would get a win at Lynx home. Mix that with her age, the number of games they had played in a row and the fact that yes she had to still go to seattle to play all star.
Dont think it had any impact on anything was always going to be a L.