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Diana Taurasi rewrote the record books.

The Mercury star is already the WNBA’s all-time scoring leader, and now she has another huge milestone on her resume, becoming the first player in WNBA history to reach 10,000 career points.

No other WNBA player has more than 7,500 career points and Taurasi’s resume is a tough one to rival. She has three WNBA championships, one MVP award, two Finals MVP trophies, 14 All-WNBA selections, and 10 All-Star selections.

She has dominated on the international stage for Team USA, winning five Olympic gold medals, and was named to the 15th, 20th and 25th WNBA Anniversary teams. 

Taurasi’s status as the league’s greatest-ever scorer is already cemented, winning five scoring titles and boasting the highest single-season scoring average (25.3 points per game in 2006). 

Tonight she created history. 

Diana Taurasi creates history with 10,000 career points

Taurasi entered Thursday night’s contest against the Atlanta Dream needing 18 points to reach 10,000 career points and she didn’t need long to get there. 

She had 10 points at the half and after scoring a driving layup early in the third quarter, she connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to bring up the milestone, bringing the Footprint Center to a standstill as her teammates embraced her at halfcourt. 

She finished with a season-high 42 points on 12-of-21 shooting and 6-of-13 from the 3-point line, adding four rebounds and two assists, leading the Mercury to a 91-71 win.   

Tonight’s performance was Taurasi’s first 40-point game since 2010.

WNBA all-time scoring list

In 2017, Taurasi passed Tina Thompson to become the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer and has been extending her lead at the top ever since. 

Among the top 10, she is one of four active players, followed by Tina Charles (4), DeWanna Bonner (8), and Candace Parker (9).

Rank Player Points
1. Diana Taurasi* 10,024
2. Tina Thompson 7488
3. Tamika Catchings 7380
4. Tina Charles* 7115
5. Candice Dupree 6895
6. Cappie Pondexter 6811
7. Sue Bird 6803
8. DeWanna Bonner* 6680
9. Candace Parker* 6574
10. Katie Smith 6452
11. Sylvia Fowles 6415
12. Lisa Leslie 6263
13. = Seimone Augustus 6005
13. = Lauren Jackson 6005
15. Becky Hammon 5841
16. Angel McCoughtry* 5797
17. Nneka Ogwumike* 5691
18. DeLisha Milton-Jones 5571
19. Katie Douglas 5560
20. Lindsay Whalen 5523

*Denotes active player

Diana Taurasi career scoring average

After averaging 17.0 points per game as a rookie with the Mercury in 2003-04, Taurasi has posted at seven seasons averaging above 20 points per game in her career.

She has won the WNBA scoring title a record five times (2006, 2008–2011), with her highest scoring average coming in 2006 with 25.3 points per game — the highest ppg average in WNBA history.  

Season Points per game Total points
2004 17.0 578
2005 16.0 527
2006 25.3 860
2007 19.2 613
2008 24.1 820
2009 20.4 631
2010 22.6 702
2011 21.6 692
2012 14.0 112
2013 20.3 651
2014 16.2 536
2016 17.8 589
2017 17.9 556
2018 20.7 682
2019 4.3 26
2020 18.7 356
2021 15.2 243
2022 16.7 519
2023 16.1 289
Career 19.2 10,024

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