Former Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi weighed in on the hot-button topic surrounding the WNBA and its players' salaries. Many fans consider Tarurasi to be the WNBA's undisputed GOAT, and rightfully so. Her rant about low wages in the United States' WNBA caught the attention of many on social media. Diana spoke on playing overseas, a route taken by many other players, to make ends meet.
Taurasi didn't hold back in expressing her frustration in a new viral rant from her documentary, Taurasi, per Sports on Prime's X, formerly Twitter.
“I’m the best player in the world, and I have to go to a communist country to get paid like a capitalist,” Taurasi said. “One time I came back and I'm like, ‘Man, my parents have just gotten older and I've missed a big part of it.' We weren't making that much money. So, the generational wealth was coming from going to Russia every year. Now, we have to come back and get paid nothing to play in a harder league in worse conditions against the best competition in the world.
“The f****** janitor at the arena made more than me,” Taurasi concluded.
"I’m the best player in the world, and I have to go to a communist country to get paid like a capitalist… the f*cking janitor in the arena made more than me.”
Diana Taurasi, in a preview of her self-titled show on Prime video 🗣️
(via @SportsonPrime)pic.twitter.com/2Lvv8hYBAP
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 6, 2025
After the WNBA All-Stars made the statement, “Pay us what you owe us,” via t-shirts at this year's All-Star Game, it garnered plenty of attention and debate over the players' salaries coming off of the league's most successful season, the 2024 campaign. Ratings, attendance, and merchandise sales reached an all-time high last season. The WNBA's current season is projected to be as successful, if not more so, than the 2024 season.
Mercury's Diana Taurasi draws praise from Paige Bueckers
Former Mercury veteran Diana Taurasi drew praise from Wings rookie Paige Bueckers, displaying the kind of respect the veteran guard commands from a new generation of WNBA players.
“She was a winner at all stages, at all levels, she’s the all-time winningest Olympian as well,” Bueckers said. “Just her excellence that she carried on the court, she was unapologetically herself. She was a competitor. Some people hated it, some people love it, but she was not afraid to be who she was. And that’s truly inspiring to me.
“And just who she is as a person, I’ve always been able to reach out to her; she’s very receptive to that. So I’m just grateful for the relationship that we have built, and what she has built,” Bueckers concluded.
Taurasi continues to inspire a new generation.
