- 11 hours ago
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00:00Are we rolling?
00:01Yes.
00:02All right.
00:05Like in here?
00:07Yeah, just sounds good.
00:10Cool.
00:11Good catch for a cameraman.
00:15So where would you like to begin?
00:17Whatever you want.
00:18Just here.
00:20Trying to be an open book.
00:23That doesn't get me arrested.
00:27When I met my college coach,
00:29he's like, what number do you think you want to be?
00:32I was like, I think I want to be zero.
00:35He goes, no.
00:36I was like, double zero.
00:38He goes, no.
00:39Only assholes are double zero.
00:41I was just like, it's just a number.
00:45He was like, you're going to be three.
00:47You're going to be the Babe Ruth of women's basketball.
00:51And I was like, who the fuck is Babe Ruth?
00:56No one has made more in WNBA history.
00:59Three NCAA titles.
01:01Three WNBA titles.
01:02Six Olympic gold medals.
01:04And six Euro league titles.
01:06Tarassi.
01:07Three.
01:07The league's first 10,000 points scored.
01:12Tarassi!
01:13This is what it's all about.
01:14Pretty simple.
01:14I just wanted to win.
01:17I didn't do it for a little bit of fame, a little bit of money.
01:20I did it to win and have the respect of the people around me.
01:23This inner fire of trying to be better.
01:25Better than myself.
01:26It's Diana Tarassi time.
01:27I'm the best player in the world.
01:29And I have to go to a communist country to get paid like a capitalist.
01:32There was this underworld that Russia had.
01:35I made such a bad decision.
01:36A stellar reputation tarnished.
01:38Extreme DUI charges.
01:40Diana Tarassi.
01:41Trusting positive for ban stimulant.
01:43I keep getting put in these situations where I have no control.
01:47I always wanted to be the best motherfucker on the court.
01:50That's literally my only goal.
01:52Top one in the league.
01:54The best in the WNBA.
01:56Best player in the world.
01:58The GOAT.
02:01Tarassi to beat the buzzer.
02:04The GOAT.
02:07The GOAT.
02:08The GOAT.
02:14The GOAT.
02:16The GOAT.
02:25More of these change, more of these stay the same.
02:30I appreciate it.
02:32You have a good one.
02:34Looks like we have you here for two nights.
02:35Sounds good.
02:36Perfect.
02:37Let's see if I make it two nights.
02:41Hey, guys.
02:44Where's your portion?
02:45I guess didn't make the wall.
02:46Didn't do enough.
02:47Only the champions.
02:49Wow.
02:51Nothing but luxury here at Connecticut.
03:01Chucha.
03:02What are you doing, Chucha?
03:04Chucha.
03:06Chuchalini.
03:08What you got?
03:11Chuchalini.
03:13Chucha.
03:15She's not interested in anything but cupcake.
03:18All right.
03:18We made it around.
03:19All right, hon.
03:20Bye.
03:22Bye.
03:24I hope the little raspy voice never leaves.
03:26It's just so cute.
03:29It's gonna come take a shit with me.
03:30No, I'm kidding.
03:30No, I'm kidding.
03:43Sorry.
03:44No, I'm not.
03:47No, I'm not.
03:51Outstanding player, it's 2003 and 2004, Diana Taurasi!
04:14What up?
04:16We already screwed it up, I'm talking about it.
04:24What's it feel like when you come back home?
04:25I mean, it's amazing.
04:26I haven't been in Gamble in probably 18 years.
04:29Really?
04:29So, you know, every time you come back, you see all these other faces and it's home.
04:42That is nice.
04:47Is there a game tonight?
04:49Okay, okay.
04:51I don't even know how we navigated these streets.
04:53I mean, back then it's not like you had Google Maps.
04:56It was kind of just, I mean, I guess there's only two roads.
04:59You can't get too lost.
05:00You come here for four years and then it's a whole different world of basketball that you
05:05have to put up with.
05:05And I loved my four years of being broke.
05:11Being broke is a joke.
05:14I remember the first time.
05:15I took my visit to Connecticut with my mom in 99.
05:24When they visited, Mario, Diana's father could not come.
05:28So it was only Lily and Dee.
05:35And I was like, what a lovely place.
05:37Look at these trees.
05:39Look at the foliage from L.A. I don't know what foliage is.
05:43And my mom's just like...
05:44Dije yo, esto es para una pelĂcula de terror.
05:47Diana me pegaba asĂ porque cada vez que yo hablaba y decĂa algo, Diana me pegaba una
05:51patada en el asiento para que no dijera nada.
05:54Porque yo decĂa, cuántos árboles, quĂ© oscuridad, quĂ© feo que es esto.
05:57No me gusta.
05:58Where are we?
05:59And they're like, you're in Connecticut.
06:01She goes, why are there no streetlights?
06:02Why is it so dark here?
06:03Why is there no traffic?
06:04I don't like it here.
06:05My daughter's not coming to school here.
06:07If anyone has a Italian or Argentinian mom, it's always the family.
06:11Everything's for your kids.
06:12Everything's for your kids, which can get a little annoying sometimes.
06:16Bueno, yo fui una mamá muy aforrada a mis hijas.
06:20Nunca les permitĂ ni que se fueran desde la puerta de mi casa a ningĂşn lado.
06:25Siempre aquà en casa con mamá y papá.
06:27Siempre juntos, los cuatro, comiendo en la mesa a su horario.
06:31Siempre.
06:33No, no mere what.
06:36Growing up with Dee was just a built-in best friend.
06:40We did everything together.
06:42My mom always said, no matter what happens, don't let anyone break you guys up.
06:46We weren't super girly.
06:48It was just always sports.
06:50Aparte de basketball, a la Jessica y a Diana le gusta jugar fĂştbol.
06:55Mi vida siempre jugué fútbol y le inculqué a mis hijas también.
07:00Pero como Mario trabajaba mucho, no se podĂa llevar al fĂştbol y al básquet.
07:05Entonces dijimos, o básquet o fútbol.
07:07Y ella prefirió el básquetbol.
07:09Mamá querĂa tenista.
07:15Básquetbol consumed my life, and I just always wanted to do it.
07:19I just remember running home after school, eat a bowl of cereal, shoot a little bit.
07:27I'd go in my room, put the TV on, I would just watch.
07:30And that's when I kind of fell in love with 90s basketball, with Magic and Jordan.
07:36Kids read a book, I watched a basketball game.
07:39That was my book.
07:40At halftime, she'd run out to the front porch and try to copy whatever shot they just took.
07:44A lot of it came from watching, but then a lot of it came just from her natural ability.
08:13And we had a lot of boy neighbors.
08:15They knew how good D was just by watching.
08:17So they'd go recruit guys from the park down the street saying,
08:22we have someone that's really good.
08:23We think they're going to beat you at one-on-one.
08:25At first they think, she's not going to be that good.
08:27And then my sister would just take them to school.
08:35They would literally sit outside waiting for my sister to come play basketball.
08:46So it was 1992, my parents had been in L.A. for 14 years.
08:51Things weren't going like they thought it was going to go in the U.S.
08:59They really miss their family.
09:01They miss the way of life.
09:14And they asked us, what do you think if we move to Argentina?
09:18And we're like, sounds good.
09:19Thinking it was going to be a lifelong vacation.
09:22So we packed everything up and we went to Argentina.
09:31My sister loved it because she was a little bit older.
09:34She found the social side of living in that country amazing.
09:38We had a lot of family, which we were not used to.
09:41With that came a lot of freedom.
09:43We were able to, like, go down the street with the kids from the neighborhood
09:47and go get ice cream and play outside until nighttime.
09:50We were like, wow, we never got to do this at home.
09:53For me, the first couple months were very hard.
09:56I didn't find myself being able to integrate.
10:00Diana empezĂł a jugar a basketball en Estados Unidos.
10:03Y claro, cuando fuimos a Argentina, nunca le gustĂł mucho a Diana.
10:07No son muchas las mujeres que se dedican a jugar a basketball, como aquĂ.
10:12En minorĂa, eh.
10:15Her goal was to play in the Olympics one day.
10:18She was good, and she was already on teams in the States.
10:21So when we moved to Argentina, it put her back in sports.
10:26There was not much of a basketball culture.
10:28It was two rounds with no net.
10:31There was no coaches.
10:32There might have been one parent.
10:34Not much structure.
10:36Bueno, es una vida un poquito diferente a Estados Unidos.
10:44One night, we were coming back from dinner.
10:46My dad drives in.
10:49Three guys running the house.
10:50Masks, guns.
10:51My sister and I in the back seat with guns to our head.
10:56My dad laying on the front of the car.
11:00And a guy was hitting him in the back of the head.
11:03And my sister and I started crying.
11:06When you can't see anything, you start visualizing things.
11:08I thought we were gonna die.
11:10And my dad's just like, be quiet, be quiet.
11:19And they just ransacked the whole place.
11:21They steal everything we have, which wasn't much.
11:45I was like, we're going back to jail.
11:49Like, we're not gonna get to do anything at home now.
11:52I have to suffer the consequences.
11:57My parents were focusing on her basketball.
12:00All the time was spent taking her to tournaments.
12:03I was a little resentful.
12:06I miss Argentina.
12:11And welcome back to the national championships for the AAU girls.
12:17At the free throw line now, Diana Taurasi.
12:19A lot of folks calling her the best player in this tournament.
12:22In 1996, our little AAU team got together.
12:25At the time, there was just hundreds of tournaments everywhere.
12:30I just remember the weekends were the best.
12:32I'd get in my Toyota Corolla, stick shift, drive down to Huntington Beach,
12:36and then we'd play, like, five games on Saturday.
12:38Taurasi with the basketball.
12:40It's now an 18-12 basketball.
12:42Baseline move for Taurasi.
12:44And nice eye off.
12:45I got a wristband here, a wristband here, a wristband around my neck,
12:48a tall sock, a little sock, a blue shoe, a red shoe.
12:51It was fun.
12:52It wasn't a job.
12:53There was no pressure.
12:54I couldn't wait to do it every weekend.
12:56With high school basketball, things got serious.
13:02As a freshman, she came in hot.
13:04People already knew her from junior high.
13:08And then people from other schools were coming to watch her.
13:11And she started filling up our gym.
13:14They were standing room only to watch her play.
13:16The people were overwhelmed.
13:18The girls were talking to the actors.
13:20And we, Mary and I, we were laughing because it caused us grace.
13:23It was incredible.
13:25And Diana told us, look at my mom, they came to see me.
13:30Our AAU team would travel.
13:31We went to Florida.
13:33We'd go to Louisiana.
13:34Basketball consumed my whole day, my whole week, my whole month, my whole year.
13:41I'm not talking about that.
13:43We already screwed it up.
13:44I'm talking about why would you leave that guy open?
13:47I had only heard about Diana.
13:48People had seen her play when she was really young.
13:51So my first opportunity to see her may have been...
13:54It was at Nike All-American Camp, Indianapolis.
13:5950 of the top players in the country.
14:02Usually it's juniors and seniors.
14:04And I got invited as a sophomore, which is huge.
14:06As I'm watching her, she just looked like I want to be different.
14:10I'm different how I look.
14:11I'm different how I play.
14:12I'm different how outgoing I am.
14:15I like something about him.
14:18She just walked right over to where I was sitting.
14:20In front of a bunch of other coaches, too, and started talking to me.
14:22She basically said, this friend of mine wants your autograph.
14:25She goes, I don't really care, but she wants the autograph.
14:27You know, like that kind of attitude.
14:28I remember the interaction was very quick, but it lasted in my head for a long time.
14:33As I got to talk to her more and more, I realized that we had a lot in common.
14:37And I even asked her, was your father born in Italy?
14:39Because there's a great wine called Tarassi, and it's from down where I grew up.
14:43She told me, yes, he was, and that kind of made sense.
14:47Well, she's a six-foot-tall point guard who's just finished her high school basketball career
14:51with a very impressive 3,000-plus points.
14:55Diana Tarassi is our Mervyn's California Female Athlete of the Week.
15:00I was a top high school recruit.
15:02My parents, they had no clue.
15:04They were just trying to pay the light bill.
15:06They weren't like, oh, he's the first one to graduate from college.
15:09That just is not part of my upbringing.
15:13And there was benefits like, hey, mom, sign this report card that's an F.
15:17Okay, thanks, love you.
15:22When you get to be a sophomore, you start reading all these letters.
15:25I wouldn't even read them.
15:26I'm like, I don't even know what this letter means.
15:28A scholarship? I don't even know what a scholarship is.
15:38Every day I'd come home, and it's like tons of messages on the machine,
15:42and they were all coaches of, like, really prestigious schools calling for my sister.
15:46There's a handful of schools that I loved already from the beginning.
15:49I loved UCLA.
15:50That's like my hometown school.
15:52But when I started seeing Coach Rama, he would come more often, right?
15:56Come to the games, come to practice.
15:59And then the home visits started.
16:02I met Gino.
16:03I said to Diana, I hate him.
16:06Gino, incredible.
16:08That's pretty cute.
16:16When I met Mario for the first time, there was a sense already of what his background was,
16:23what his thoughts are on life and kids in general.
16:26We didn't talk anything about basketball, he and I, when we first met.
16:30We were out back just having a drink.
16:33Two old Italian guys talking about their family.
16:36I was like my uncle over here.
16:38I didn't know he was going to be the annoying uncle, but he's my uncle nonetheless.
16:42That's the one thing that Coach and I bonded on from the beginning.
16:44He just understood the way I grew up.
16:48His name is Gino Auriemma.
16:50The name of his game is women's basketball.
16:52Now has the longest winning streak of any women's Division I basketball team.
16:57Can you believe the reception you're getting here?
16:59No.
16:59No.
17:00He was the new kid on the block.
17:02He got to UConn in 85, and then the next couple years, you just see this influx of talent.
17:07Getting the number one player in the country every single year.
17:10Getting players with a winning mindset became the only thing I cared about.
17:18Deep down, my mom and dad always thought Diana would stay close.
17:22Because they knew she could pick wherever she wanted to go.
17:25And they always thought like, oh, she'll go to UCLA or USC.
17:28She'll stay local so mom and dad can come watch her and we can go see her games.
17:52She picked a school that was so far away.
17:55My parents were so depressed.
17:57They had quit smoking for years.
17:59And the minute she left for college, I would see my mom and dad outside smoking
18:03because they were all stressed out and depressed.
18:07It was a really like big shock to them.
18:14When Diana left, imagine, they took me the middle of my life.
18:18Because she was always a very good friend.
18:21And they took me the middle of my life that day.
18:25I went to her piece, cleaned the piece, changed the sábana.
18:29I couldn't say anything.
18:30I don't want to cry.
18:31I couldn't say anything like that.
18:37Yeah.
18:37So lonely?
18:38No, I'm going to do that.
18:43Let's take a moment.
18:45Why don't we take a little break?
18:46Okay.
19:05We didn't have Dee in the house.
19:06We didn't hear the ball banging against the backboard.
19:09It was a hard adjustment.
19:17Moving to Connecticut, you know, it was all these things that I was just getting used to.
19:24I didn't know what scheduling was.
19:27I didn't know where the classes were.
19:29I didn't know who I was living with.
19:31I didn't know how to do my own laundry.
19:34And being from the West Coast, going to the East Coast, you know, people talk different.
19:40They think different.
19:41In Connecticut, it snowed for six months, and I was used to shooting in a t-shirt during Christmas outside.
19:47So there was all these things that were just not familiar to me.
19:54But I had a really great group of teammates.
19:57That helped me out.
19:59Dee came in to school, and right away, there's an energy to her.
20:05There's a charisma to her.
20:06Sue, how do you feel about that she was gay?
20:09Well, I thought we played three.
20:11Is there a reason why your hands are behind your head?
20:13She was the first one to tease you, but also the first one to put her arm around you.
20:18It says a lot about her.
20:20Sue is two years older than me.
20:22You know, when you're a freshman, you're a freshman.
20:24No one gives a shit about you.
20:25But we became friends.
20:27But the only thing we do when we ever get to you, practice, is sweet.
20:31Oh, food in her belly.
20:33Food in her belly.
20:34Food in her belly.
20:35Dee had that West Coast vibe.
20:37It's a little more chill.
20:38It's a little more showy.
20:39In practice, she'd be a little loose with it, turning it over.
20:42That wasn't gonna fly.
20:44Coach Riamma made you have to kind of rein it in.
21:00Before Diana started her freshman year at Connecticut, she didn't spend a lot of time on things other
21:05than give me a ball, put it in my hand, let me go play.
21:10And coming here, there was a whole new way to prepare to play basketball.
21:17When she got here, we were a team that had already won two national championships.
21:21And now here comes Diana, and she's the obnoxious freshman who thinks she's better than everybody else.
21:26She wasn't a big fan, let's put it that way.
21:29Hey, Dee, when you catch the ball over there, you gotta look for that low guy first.
21:32She's wide open.
21:32What do they say, Dee?
21:34Why would you leave that guy open?
21:35Come on, man.
21:36I just said that.
21:37When I was young, the basketball court, it was just the canvas, and I would just throw shit at the
21:42wall.
21:43Throw paint, I could throw whatever I wanted.
21:46And I got to Connecticut, and they took all the paint away from me.
21:48If I dribbled a little bit awkward, or I would throw a pass without looking, he would always get on
21:54me.
21:54Dee, this is not the fucking California all-star game.
21:58And I'm like, what did I do?
21:59That's what I have to say. See, that's my...
22:02I remember throwing her out of practice the third day of the season.
22:04We were doing this drill, and she was frustrated because she couldn't get it right.
22:07Her response to not being able to play defense on somebody was every time they'd dribble by her, she'd just
22:12punch them or smack them or push them or try to trip them or knock them on their ass.
22:24That's like a brat.
22:25He thought I was undisciplined, and I would foul a lot, and that would turn into me yelling at the
22:30ref, and then he would yell at me, and then he would take me out of the game.
22:32Well, you're not taking this serious. Oh, you think this is just fun and games.
22:36She's a pathological liar. I said, you've lived your entire life bullshitting people.
22:40You've managed to talk your way out of a lot of things, and your parents have no idea what you're
22:44doing, because they never lived that life.
22:46But here in the real world, you're not going to get away with that nonsense.
22:49I think there was two different concepts of how basketball should be played, and he was trying to teach me
22:55the way that would impact winning.
22:57Hey, this is hard as hell, right? If it was easy, everybody would be undefeated, number one. This is hard
23:01as hell. It's supposed to be.
23:03The practices are set up where you will feel miserable no matter what.
23:08Physically, it was so hard for me that I would dread going to the gym.
23:12I was an 18-year-old kid that hadn't lifted a weight, and conditioning, and training, and all that stuff
23:17was so important to them.
23:19He would find one little thing.
23:21Hold up! Hold up! Hold up! Hold up!
23:23And he would just go at it all practice.
23:25He knew you couldn't win. It was like, how quickly are you going to give up?
23:28I'm going to make you keep doing it until you get it right, or until you just die trying.
23:32I really don't care. Either one of those two things is fine with me.
23:38I think he knew I could take it, so I think he would turn the screws a little bit harder.
23:42Don't go to the wing gate! Stay up top gate!
23:51Tonight's just another game for us. For them, this is revenge.
23:58Beyond being an amazing basketball coach, he could sit down with you for 10 minutes, and he, in a weird
24:05way, knew everything about you.
24:07I knew what she wanted, so I'm going to give her everything that I possibly can, so that if she
24:12has it in her, I'm going to get it out of her one way or the other.
24:15I went from being, you know, the best kid on every team I ever played on, until I got to
24:19college.
24:20I was like, oh, I don't think I'm going to play this year.
24:26Just at the end of the bench, clapping, watching, getting my ass lit up every day in practice.
24:39So, we get to the second half of my freshman year, and both our starting guards go down.
24:46Rosa Bova knocks it out of bounds. She goes down.
24:51We hate to see this for the Huskies.
24:57Oh, goodness. Oh, no.
25:01Whatever schedule he had me on, he was forced to play me.
25:05He goes, there's no age to being great.
25:09And I said, that's cool. That's profound.
25:12I mean, I couldn't get off the bench last month, but now you want me to be great? Okay.
25:18Diana Taurasi into the lineup for Connecticut.
25:22Naturally a point guard, but she's going to play all over the court for Connecticut this season.
25:26It was her time. We're now on this march towards a national championship.
25:30She now has to be in the starting role. She has to perform.
25:33Dudley stripped by Taurasi ahead to Byrd, who had to run down the lead pass and now waits for some
25:39help.
25:40Taurasi left side three. Long rebound to Schumacher. Taurasi another three.
25:51And I was kind of like the fifth Beatle. He kind of slotted right in, and that's when I started
25:55feeling like, okay, I can play here.
26:02I'm just as good as these guys, and I can help the team win.
26:06She really established herself. She was playing beyond her years.
26:12She brought an edginess that was kind of already here, but she took it to another level.
26:20She had the horn off the window. And how do you like me now?
26:25That was the moment where our relationship changed.
26:28She played an unbelievable role. She ended up being the Big East most valuable player,
26:33and the Eastern Regional most valuable player, and we went to the Final Four.
26:37Are you satisfied tonight? We have a lot of work to do still.
26:39I mean, you know, getting to the Final Four is a big accomplishment, but we're looking for a little bit
26:42more.
26:43Yeah.
26:44Most teams get to the Final Four, and it's like, the year's done.
26:48Celebrate. Whatever happens is just icing on the cake.
26:52At Connecticut, you gotta win.
26:54We're playing Notre Dame, and we played pretty well in the first half.
27:01And we start the game off amazing.
27:03Offensive rebound. Burns for three. Got it.
27:06They are UConn, and they have been impressive in the first half, and how about the pitch?
27:09But we didn't play very well in the second half.
27:11Right now with Kennedy.
27:13And he goes by a double-team bucket in the foul.
27:17Missed a shot. Offensive rebound. Schumacher, she can't hit it.
27:21And he is not happy with Diana Tarazi.
27:24And then all of a sudden, it just started snowballing, where the other team just picked up momentum.
27:28Seenman kicks it outside down.
27:30Line, drive, three by Notre Dame with its biggest lead of the game.
27:34I wish we could have the opportunity to take the lead.
27:37You could feel it getting away from you.
27:42I'm having a complete berry.
27:44I'm having the worst game of my life.
27:46She has missed all ten of her shots.
27:51Sometimes in the game, you try so hard to make shots.
27:55And Tarazi bricks that when she has just had a brutal night.
27:59Because you want to win so bad that nothing goes right for you.
28:03It was just one of those times where you're on the court and everything is just happening really fast.
28:08And you can't control anything.
28:09Boy, the contact getting more and more physical.
28:13And Connecticut turns it over again.
28:15The stage shrunk me for the first time.
28:18I felt tiny out there. And that's how I played.
28:21And that will be the fifth and final foul on Diana Tarazi, who just had a brutal night shooting the
28:27basketball.
28:30Eventually they won the championship, but they were the better team.
28:33She puts so much pressure on herself to be great that game.
28:36Usually the biggest moments are her best moments.
28:38That's one of the few times that I've seen her struggle in a big moment.
28:43I was embarrassed. I was disappointed.
28:48My parents were in the stands. They looked like they'd seen a ghost.
28:55At that time, Coach Rima was very consoling.
28:58He just sees how miserable I am.
29:01And he comes over, he says a couple words, and that helped me out.
29:07She reacted the way people that are really invested and give their heart and soul to it.
29:12That's how they react.
29:14Diana Tarazi had an off night. 0 for 11 from three-point land.
29:18Tough for a freshman to take.
29:19Probably the worst game in her life at that point.
29:22But in a lot of ways, that informed pretty much everything moving forward.
29:27There's no... I don't know. There's no positive twist in this.
29:31Positive twist?
29:32No, not now.
29:33Sometimes you have to have those moments to understand what it takes.
29:45We go back to campus and we get together for post-season workouts.
29:49There was tension about going forward.
29:54We're all in the locker room.
29:56And he went around the whole locker room and he told everyone the truth about themselves.
30:01You think this is a joke.
30:03You don't work hard.
30:05You don't go to class.
30:07All the things that make you who you are, he kind of made me look in the mirror.
30:13And that set the tone for my next three years.
30:16We're not going to stop until we win a national championship.
30:20Four senior stars and a sophomore sensation seek perfection.
30:24There was this look on their faces that reflected that loss for an entire year.
30:29And we are underway.
30:32Diana Taurasi!
30:34We were just a machine.
30:35We each did what we had to do every single night without fail.
30:39Did you see that?
30:41That was pretty.
30:42Perfection is spelled U-C-O-N-N!
30:45My class, we're seniors, so we're the older ones.
30:48D's sophomore year.
30:50But D is the anchor of the team.
30:56Everywhere we went, turnout was insane.
30:58UConn!
30:59UConn!
30:59Everyone expected us to win.
31:01We just played the tournament as if we knew we were going to win.
31:04UConn's back on top!
31:05This redemption story, it's almost destiny.
31:08Watching Diana in those years at UConn, it was a revolution in women's college basketball.
31:14She makes things happen, and she's tough to defend because you don't know whether she's going to take the shot
31:18or drive by her.
31:19Taurasi, touchdown!
31:22Taurasi, and again for three!
31:26And on the most talented team in the country, the sophomore might wind up being the best player.
31:3139-0, Connecticut is perfect!
31:372002 championship trophy to the Huskies from the University of Connecticut!
31:41We went 39-0 undefeated.
31:43How can you argue with that?
31:48You've got Diana for two more years.
31:50What's your outlook for your team with her at the helm?
31:53It's going to be a little harder on D.
31:54Can she get us back here?
31:56I don't know.
31:58We got fighters on this team.
31:59When you think of UConn, you think of domination.
32:02Domination, that's it!
32:03We didn't have any seniors.
32:04We were basically the seniors of the team a year early.
32:06She's in charge of these guys who have never played.
32:09The table's a turn, where I'm looking at these kids like,
32:13now I get why I got on everyone's nerves.
32:17Because you didn't know anything!
32:20Then she does something I don't think people in women's basketball expected.
32:25Puts a team on her back.
32:27And she was like, I'm just going to win, no matter what it takes.
32:30If you need me to score, I'm a scorer.
32:32If you need me to pass, I'm a pass.
32:33Holy cow!
32:34What a pass by Karazi!
32:36I'm so bad!
32:37Three for number three!
32:38Do it like nobody does!
32:39And I'll get busy!
32:41Do it like nobody does!
32:44That was good, right?
32:45D was the one holding everything up.
32:48That's always been one of her biggest strengths.
32:50If you're good, she'll elevate you to great.
32:53If you're average, she'll make you good.
32:55And she took every one of our players and just lifted them.
32:58And I felt like as long as we have her pulling the strings, we're going to be okay.
33:06Final Four, finals.
33:10She's on her roll right now.
33:11They can't find a way to stop her.
33:13You can't let Diana Taraji shoot open threes, people.
33:16I just did what I had to do.
33:19Connecticut Huskies!
33:20After going 39-0, they go 37-1 and win back-to-back national championships.
33:29That was a back-to-back, right?
33:30Yeah, that was.
33:31Back-to-back!
33:32I'll just make a share.
33:33Yeah, alright, I'm good.
33:34I'm happy.
33:36It's my last go-around with this team and my coach, and I wanted to be a good one.
33:43Perhaps the best women's college basketball player of all time.
33:47What separates her is her mentality.
33:49Diana launches this UConn dynasty.
33:53Every young player wanted to put on that UConn jersey.
33:56The team has reached rock star status.
34:08Everybody wearing her jersey in college, and I was like, dang, she really is a star.
34:12All the sacrifices we made with leaving Argentina, it was all worth it to see her play at UConn.
34:17This moment at UConn is like a collision of the ESPN in a tiny town that has drawn the best
34:26recruits across the country.
34:28ESPN introduces the national audience to the players who wear the Huskies uniform, and they are like rock stars.
34:37Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and now you.
34:39Oh, really?
34:41Yeah.
34:41Is this for me?
34:42Yeah.
34:46Taurasi has led her team to two consecutive titles.
34:49Is number three in the cards tonight.
34:54She has been the leader of this club ever since she arrived.
34:57Two-time Naismith National Player of the Year.
35:00Leads Connecticut all-time in assists.
35:02Third all-time in points.
35:04The only collegiate player invited to try out for the national team.
35:11Tonight we stand on the brink of history.
35:15Taurasi wins three national championships in a row.
35:21Diana Taurasi will go out on top.
35:25If it wasn't for the way Diana Taurasi is, and the way she plays the game, and the kind of
35:31teammate she is,
35:33there's no way that the rest of her teammates would have been able to do what they did tonight.
35:41She was fucking stunned.
35:43Fucking stunned.
35:44How are you?
35:45I'm so glad I've seen you guys forever.
35:47I'm so sorry.
35:47I'm so sorry.
35:48I'm so sorry.
35:50I'm so sorry.
35:51I'm so sorry.
35:56I can't believe how many people came back.
35:59That's a testament to what we created here.
36:02But I think it's a testament to the people that graduated from here,
36:06and how much you still hold the four years that you had here in such unbelievable regard,
36:13that you would want to keep recreating this as much as possible.
36:18Playing for Coach Rima, everything you do is at the highest level.
36:23I was just so thankful that I had that four years of training.
36:27After UConn, it was time for me to go into the pros, and I felt as ready as you can
36:32be.
36:33Hi, I'm Pam Ward.
36:35Welcome to ESPN and NBA TV's first round coverage of the WNBA draft.
36:40The class of 2004 considered to be the best ever.
36:43This class also represents the first group of players who were high school freshmen when the WNBA began,
36:48and they knew there was a future for them in the pros.
36:53With the first pick of the 2004 WNBA draft, the Phoenix Mercury Select, Diana Taurasi from the University of Connecticut.
37:02Welcome to ESPN and NBA TV's first round coverage of the WNBA draft.
37:08She came to be the first one.
37:12It's something that you can see, but it doesn't exist because we thought that it can't be,
37:19but it's an inner joy of us.
37:24Some memories that we have for the rest of our lives, the truth.
37:27Sometimes I comment on Diane and say,
37:29Mom, do you remember? And yes, Mom, how can't I remember?
37:38Diana, congratulations.
37:40Some people are saying you are the future of women's basketball.
37:43Are you?
37:43Um, we'll see. I think there's...
37:45When Dee went to the WNBA draft, she wore this weird pants suit
37:50with like a really low-cut shirt and had her hair down.
37:55She looked like a Barbie doll.
37:58You gotta do what you gotta do. You gotta get the league out there.
38:01And she's like, I don't know if I like this.
38:04This is about growing the league.
38:07Yeah. What are we doing for the last three days?
38:09You know what? Can't use it. You've been doing it for 10 years.
38:11Yeah, one second picture, though.
38:38I want you to tell me something about yourself that most people don't know.
38:42I don't know about Diane.
38:45In the early days of the WNBA, they felt they had to capture the cookie-cutter audience
38:51that they thought was going to bring in the bigger dollars and make advertisers happy.
38:56Everybody had to be presented as straight, hyper-feminized, mainstream, pretty quiet women.
39:06Where Dee was just incredibly under-marketed was the swag, was the confidence, was the one-liner.
39:14I don't dance for free. One technical.
39:17Pachorima's been great the whole time.
39:19He's getting a little big over there. The team looks good. I'm out.
39:22Diana has the biggest personality.
39:25She was the WNBA's jackpot, but she never got the chance to really live into that.
39:31They were trying to go the opposite way of what Dee was bringing.
39:34See what we gotta do for this league?
39:35Woo!
39:36The WNBA, he's fantastic.
39:38I had to navigate what makes him happy.
39:41Woo!
39:43I get it. We're trying to sell tickets here, but it was all an act.
39:48Was that good?
39:49Yeah.
39:50Hi, I'm Diana Taurasi. When I wake up in the morning, I'm tuned in to Cold Pizza.
39:53I had to do whatever they wanted so I could go play basketball.
40:04As the high clouds move out tomorrow, we'll top out at about 100.
40:0798 degrees currently in Uptown Phoenix.
40:09I've only been here a week and a half, and there really hasn't been, you know, that much time to
40:13see the town.
40:14But I like it so far.
40:16You know, there's that laid-back sense out here, which I like a lot, so it's been really good.
40:21I was excited to become a pro, and I was excited to see a different type of basketball.
40:27Now, we're ready to go here.
40:32Katie!
40:40It was a big change. The style of play was different.
40:43Karazi comes up short.
40:45Karazi, she goes down the ground, there's no call.
40:47Karazi couldn't get the shot off, it's knocked out of bounds.
40:50And all of a sudden, you're the young kid and you have to catch up again.
40:53Karazi from way downtown, arching shot, and the spark.
40:57Pull one out against the Phoenix Mercury.
41:0017 inceptive all season.
41:02When you go to a school like Connecticut, you do a lot of winning.
41:04And then when you get to the pros, you do a lot of losing.
41:06My first couple years in the WNBA, we didn't even make the playoffs.
41:10Diana Taurasi, not happy.
41:12Is this just what the pros are?
41:13Like, when do you ever win?
41:15It sucks.
41:16You think you can control everything, and then all of a sudden you control nothing when you get to the
41:20pros.
41:21Diana was coming from the spotlight of a Storrs Connecticut, and then walking into a professional product that had none
41:29of that.
41:33When Diana's first in the WNBA, it's not seen in the sports business world as a valuable commodity.
41:41That affects everything.
41:44My first salary as a rookie, I was at $42,000. Before tax, of course.
41:55Sue, she was a sounding board for my rookie year and then going into my second year.
42:01She goes, let's go to Russia. And I was like, Russia? What am I going to do in Russia?
42:06They take care of you. It's pretty decent. Money's good.
42:09And I was like, well, that sounds pretty good.
42:11It was already like, let's do this.
42:14Thanks, guys. Good luck to you.
42:15Fam, back to you.
42:1820 years ago, going overseas is what everyone did.
42:22And that's where you made most of your money.
42:24It was just a different type of lifestyle.
42:26Chartering everywhere, the hotels we were staying at, best watches, best diamonds.
42:31That's a big difference for a kid that had no money.
42:33We had the world at our fingertips.
42:35Shaptai owned Spartak, the best Russian team.
42:37He just always wanted to make sure you were taken care of.
42:40There was always rumors and there was always stories.
42:43I don't know if anyone knew where his money came from.
42:47Beezus, man. We just went with it.
42:49There's no point in asking questions.
42:50This is a world that I will never understand.
42:53We're the best team in the world.
42:55And then all of a sudden, it was gone just like that.
43:09You're panelist.
43:26Here's our session.
43:27Here's the one day andč‘—iczny.
43:29You're close to men.
43:30Here's where you would pay me.
43:30Here's theel.
43:31There's as little cost.
43:31Jones.
43:32Here's here.
43:32Here's a gift to you.
43:33Here's the animal to own your benefit.
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