Stories of Diana Taurasi as an Olympic newcomer: Wild, funny, “totally loud”

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In her sixth Olympic Games, Diana Taurasi is essentially the most experienced player even among the many veteran players on the U.S. basketball team. At 42, she might be the oldest member of the 12-person women's basketball team, and few within the history of the U.S. basketball program have shown more commitment than Taurasi.

She is well-known on the Olympic and international stage, but it surely wasn't all the time that way. In 2004, shortly after the Phoenix Mercury chosen her with the No. 1 pick within the WNBA Draft, Taurasi arrived in Colorado ahead of the Athens Games because the youngest member of the USA Olympic team. Led by three-time Olympians Lisa Leslie, Dawn Staley and Sheryl Swoopes, this team was a seasoned team in pursuit of this system's third consecutive Olympic gold medal.

So the query becomes: We know what Taurasi is like now as a seasoned athlete, but what was she like in her first Olympic appearance? Several members of this team were asked for his or her “Best Diana as a Rookie” story from Athens. Their stories didn’t disappoint.

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Van Chancellor, head coach of the 2004 Olympic team

My whole focus was on winning the gold medal. I didn't care about politics or what I had achieved up to now. I just wanted the 12 best players that might help me win. When the time got here, I said, “I want Diana Taurasi on the team. No-brainer.” She was a senior at UConn. She had all the abilities.

Team USA played an exhibition game at Tulane the night before the 2004 national championship game. Sold out. We had all of our players except one last player. All of us (from Team USA) then went to the national championship game. So UConn wins the national championship and the following morning, at 9 or 10 o'clock, we were on our Team USA bus on the point of go to the airport to fly to our training center in Colorado. Diana gets on the bus. I'm within the front seat and he or she sits right next to me and immediately says, “What do you want from me?”

I said, “Diana, you can help us, but I need something else. I have Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie and Dawn Staley. They are experienced players. They have won two gold medals. You have to act like a novice.”

She said, “Coach Chancellor, if that's all you need, I'm ready to go. I'm ready to help this team.”

She was the most effective with older players I've ever seen. She was a terrific player, but she acted like a rookie and fit perfectly into our team.

Dawn Staley, teammate 2004

I remember Diana was all the time loud. Incredibly loud. That was advantageous until it just got an excessive amount of. At some point you only must tell her to be quiet. I remember telling her once, “Shut up.” We were at training. I had just had enough. I used to be done. Everyone else was probably done too.

I don't think she meant it in a foul way. That's just how she was, but it surely was my third Olympics, so I knew what we needed to do to bring home gold and I didn't want any unwarranted, unwanted distractions. I knew the key to success and he or she was this young, carefree, free Diana. And for us, we were just ourselves.

But it was cool because she understood. There was no hostility. It was just, “Hey, this is what we need to do. Stop being superfluous. Let's just get lean.”

Swin Cash, teammate 2004

At the Olympics, our group was young: me, Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings, Diana, Ruth Riley. We were the young wave that got here in, and within the lead as much as the Olympics, we all the time loved the white versus red practice games, when the young players played against the experienced veterans. We would kick their asses, after which once we needed to win or were near winning, Van Chancellor would all the time say, “Time's up!” It was a terrific competition. I loved it.

But I remember Dee (Taurasi) and Yolanda Griffith were moved to the red (veterans) team. Our team was still great, and I remember Dee talking trash, like, “I need to go back to the white team! Screw it!” and throwing a complete tantrum. I used to be literally in tears. She was so competitive. She was so mad when Van moved her to the red team. She was all the time talking trash. And when she was moved to the red team, it was like someone put a Tennessee jersey on her.

Sue Bird, teammate 2004

It was the primary game of the Olympics. We were staying on the ship Queen Mary 2. It wasn't a crazy good distance, but it surely was about half-hour to the venue. We got there and all of us got ready, got taped up, and put our shoes on. And Dee had two left shoes. She said, “Damn, I have two left shoes.” And I said, “What do I do?” Someone needed to run back to the hotel to get it for her, and he or she had it for the sport. But she did the team warm-ups in her trainers.

I also remember once we got our outfits for the opening ceremony. And that yr it was these skirts. They looked like school uniforms. And we had these hats, and Diana wore two pigtails, which is so funny looking back.

Carol Callan, Director of the USA National Team

Diana didn't play much. She got here on instead. But she was so attentive and driven. She took every opportunity to figure things out. She respected the time the veterans had put in. She knew she couldn't just turn into a star. But I remember her being supportive from the bench, and if a coach looked down at her, she would jump up and sprint to the scorekeeper's table.

Gail Goestenkors, assistant coach of the 2004 Olympic team

Diana was a fierce competitor. We played against her after I was at Duke. Her competitive spirit was incredible. But what I loved about her – and he or she still is – is that she's just so funny. In stressful situations, and the Olympics are loads of stressful, she will say something that makes everyone laugh and calm down.

I remember talking to her and Sue Bird before we shot some balls before a practice and I told them each that they weren't defending thoroughly. I used to be joking about their defense. And then I remember asking Diana what made her need to go to UConn. And Sue said, “Coach (Geno) Auriemma just said, 'Give her a great time. She must have a lot of fun.'”

Dee said, “I don't remember most of it because we had so much fun. That was the key point because I was worried about what I was going to do in Connecticut.”

The athlete