Diana Taurasi... PLEASE Play.... OR you should be Fined!
See Clay Kallam's article about Diana Taurasi NOT playing the first two games back from the Olympics: "Taurasi must play or both she and Phoenix must pay"
Clay brings up some good points... Diana is one of the best players in the League... her sitting is the equivalent of Kobe Bryant or Lebron James not playing. It hurts the league! Apparently the WNBA didn't know about the "dental procedure" because the WNBA.com front page had a photo of Diana and was promoting her comeback game against San Antonio. It's amazing how Phoenix continues to shoot the league in the foot!
Another Major problem....Diana Taurasi fills seats on OTHER arenas... So it isn't just Phoenix who will lose $40,000 for the rest of the season... EACH road game she doesn't play will cost the other home team money.... And what about TV revenue? I tried to watch the Phoenix vs San Antonio game on TV, but it was a blow out... I actually switched over to the Tulsa vs Minnesota game because it was more interesting to me that the worst team in the league was tied with the best team in the league (at least for the first half of the game)! As a fan, you WANT to see competitive games and right now it feels like Phoenix is TANKING on purpose!
DIANA better get her butt in uniform--If not then a fine is in order!
The Australian players, excepting Cambage, made it clear they were staying home to get ready for the Olympics. Taurasi could have simply said "I'm not playing in the WNBA this year, and focusing on the Olympics," and it's all good. But to mislead ticketbuyers and fans makes little sense -- just say what you're going to do.
Once back, almost every player who was at the Olympics was banged up and hurt or sick, regardless of the team they played on. But for Taurasi to play the most minutes of any American in London and then say she was too hurt to play in the WNBA is just inexcusable.