Eliav GabayPhoenix’s 2014 Championship team was special.
Any title-winning squad is – but this one was truly different.
Featuring all-time players in Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner, Penny Taylor, DeWanna Bonner, and Candice Dupree – all led by legendary head coach Sandy Brondello – they broke the WNBA record with 29 wins in a season.
Introducing 2014 #Mercury Championship, 29-win squad: https://t.co/05CDdSm2dw pic.twitter.com/3Wu9A17Yvl
— Eliav Gabay (@eliavgabay) September 14, 2024
“This group, literally, has not been together in 10 years,” Taurasi said. “Obviously we’re missing [Candice Dupree]. It just takes you back to being in those difficult times. In the trenches. Training camp…we just all got along really, really well…we were desperate to win a championship and it came together beautifully. Any given night – anyone could have a big night.”
“The absolute joy of this team was the sacrifice,” Taylor said. “It makes me so happy. As much now as it did the day we won so I’m so happy that the organization has chosen to celebrate this team in the way they have because it’s so special. We all know what it takes to be here.”
The 2023 Las Vegas Aces now hold that mantel with 34 wins.
Brondello made sure to add perhaps the most impressive stat of the run – the 16-game winning streak.
“Amazing players – but human beings,” Brondello said. “They all just came together for the common goal.”
“I learned a lot those first few years – especially that year,” Griner said. “Versus now, seeing how hard it is to get back. You win one and you just think you’re gonna be there the next year and the following year. Like Dee said, a lot of roles change…Weathering the storm. Figuring out my role from then to now – there’s a lot of difficult changes, but I know one thing: I remember what it takes. We’re just trying to get back there.”
Current #Liberty head coach/former #Mercury HC Sandy Brondello on her memories of the 2014 Phoenix championship squad being honored in a couple weeks.
She’ll fly out for that game too (CON at PHX, Sept. 13).@Sports360AZ pic.twitter.com/lXacKyUjjz
— Eliav Gabay (@eliavgabay) August 27, 2024
After Bonner, Taurasi, and Griner squared off on the hardwood, everyone gathered to be honored and remember one of the greatest teams this league has ever seen.
Moderated by Basketball Hall of Famer and Mercury Vice President Ann Meyers Drysdale, each player shared memories.
“I was known as the person who guarded the best player on the team,” Bonner said (after her three standings ovations – the X-Factor never forgets). “Which I took personal…I was playing with three amazing players…I was playing with the GOAT, so I didn’t need to score much…I would do it again for all these ladies…I spent 10 years here…I love you all.”
As Taurasi prepares for another playoff run, she isn’t concerned with the offseason just yet.
“As an athlete, you think you get to write the ending, but the end just happens sometimes,” Taurasi said. “I’m really focused on what’s tomorrow. What this team needs to do to make a playoff push, cause we have it in us.”
However, if this is it, we wouldn’t know it.
“I will be doing no tour,” Taurasi said.
She’s always told us that she’s not sure until she sees how her body feels in the offseason – so my guess? She truly doesn’t know if she’s coming back next year either.
What she does know is that the Mercury needs a win badly, now on a three-game skid.
The season wraps up with a road trip to Chicago and LA before the regular season finale at home on Thursday, September 19 at 8 PM.
