Diana Lorena Taurasi (born June 11, 1982) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and is considered to be one of the greatest women basketball players of all time. She was drafted by Phoenix first overall in the 2004 WNBA draft. Taurasi has won the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award (2004), three WNBA championships (2007, 2009, and 2014), a historic five Olympic gold medals (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020), one WNBA Most Valuable Player Award (2009), two WNBA Finals MVP Awards (2009 and 2014), five scoring titles (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011), and three FIBA World Cups (2010, 2014, and 2018). She has also been selected to ten WNBA All-Star teams and fourteen All-WNBA teams (including ten first-team selections). In 2011, she was voted by fans as one of the WNBA's Top 15 Players of All Time, and was named by the league to its 20th and 25th anniversary teams, respectively the WNBA Top 20@20 in 2016 and The W25 in 2021. Also in 2021, she was selected by fans as the league's greatest player of all time. On June 18, 2017, Taurasi became the WNBA all-time leading scorer and on June 27, 2021, became the first player to surpass 9,000 points. Her penchant for scoring in crucial situations has earned her the nickname "White Mamba", coined by Kobe Bryant. Taurasi is one of 11 women to win an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA Championship, a FIBA World Cup gold and a WNBA Championship. Early life Taurasi grew up in Chino, California, where she attended and played basketball at Don Antonio Lugo High School. Taurasi's father, Mario, was raised in Argentina. He was a professional soccer player in Italy and played for several years as a goalkeeper. Taurasi's mother, Liliana, is Argentinian. Mario and Liliana Taurasi emigrated from Argentina to the United States before Diana was born. She has an older sister named Jessika. High school career Taurasi attended Don Antonio Lugo High School, where she was the recipient of the 2000 Cheryl Miller Award, presented by the Los Angeles Times to the best player in Southern California. She was also named the 2000 Naismith and Parade Magazine National High School Player of the Year, and the 1999 and 2000 Ms. Basketball State Player of the Year. Taurasi finished her prep career ranked fourth in state history