Phoenix Mercury

For two decades, the Phoenix Mercury and Diana Taurasi were synonymous. The WNBA's all-time leading scorer spent her entire career at Footprint Center, winning three championships (2007, 2009, 2014) and establishing herself as the greatest scorer the women's game has ever produced. When Taurasi retired in February 2025 at age 42, she left behind a franchise that had to answer a question it had never faced: what are the Phoenix Mercury without Diana Taurasi? The answer, it turned out, was one of the most compelling stories of the 2025 season.

The Mercury entered 2025 in full rebuild mode. Brittney Griner—whose harrowing detention in Russia in 2022 became an international incident before her return later that year—had left after the 2024 season. Between Taurasi's retirement and Griner's departure, Phoenix lost 71.3 percent of its scoring from the prior year. Only two players returned from the previous roster. The front office responded with bold moves, assembling a new Big Three of Alyssa Thomas (acquired via trade from Connecticut), Satou Sabally, and Kahleah Copper. It was the kind of dramatic roster overhaul that usually produces a transition year of growing pains.

Instead, the Mercury produced a postseason run that nobody saw coming. Phoenix finished 27-17 and earned the fourth seed, then upset the defending champion New York Liberty in the first round and stunned the number-one seed Minnesota Lynx three games to one in the semifinals. The magic finally ran out in the Finals, where the Las Vegas Aces swept Phoenix in four games, but the Mercury had already exceeded every reasonable expectation. In a single season, they had transitioned from the Taurasi era to whatever comes next—and proved that whatever comes next might be worth watching.