Mercury's Diana Taurasi emotional in possible final home game - ESPN

PHOENIX — When Phoenix Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts walked down the sideline to where Diana Taurasi was sitting late in the fourth quarter of Thursday night's 89-70 loss to the Seattle Storm, he had to summon the help of Brittney Griner, Natasha Cloud and Sophie Cunningham to convince the WNBA's all-time leading scorer to go back in for what could be the last home game of her illustrious career.

Finally, the foursome, along with the help of a sellout crowd chanting «D.T.,» convinced Taurasi, 42, to take a curtain call. The plan was for her not to play in the final quarter, but with 3:11 left, the only WNBA player to score 10,000 career points entered the game at the Footprint Center to a standing ovation. She acknowledged the fans' response with waves and claps as chants of «one more year» echoed throughout the arena.

Then, six seconds later, Taurasi was subbed out and, for possibly the last time, walked off the court on which she played 261 games, scored 5,156 points, dished out 1,137 assists, grabbed 1,040 rebounds and made 678 3-pointers.

She hugged Tibbetts and as she made her way back to the bench, she stopped to hug and kiss her parents, Mario and Lily Taurasi, who were sitting courtside, before hugging each teammate until she got to the end of the bench.

Whether it was her last time playing in front of the home crowd that has cheered her on since she was drafted by the Mercury first overall in 2004 is yet to be seen. There is still basketball to be played. Phoenix travels to Minnesota for a best-of-three playoff series starting Sunday against the Lynx. Beyond a potential third game in Arizona, Taurasi isn't sure whether Thursday was, in fact, her final home game.

«I think once the season's over, I'll have a better