Editor’s note: Valley sports fans have access to their teams’ past and present and have a good idea for 2025. To address these expectations, we asked five of The Arizona Republic’s leading writers to share their top five most intriguing 2025 storylines. The math worked, so let’s call it “25 2025” and start with the first five of Mercury.
Diana Taurasi’s decision
At the moment, it’s unclear whether Diana Taurasi, the face of the Mercury franchise, will play at age 21.castle Enjoy the season with Phoenix.
Taurasi has nothing left to prove after bringing Phoenix three championships, two WNBA Finals MVP awards and one MVP award. Not to mention, she is the league’s all-time leading scorer with 10,646 points.
Outside of Mercury, Taurasi won his sixth gold medal with Team USA at the Paris Olympics, tying the record for most gold medals by an American basketball player. Taurasi has said she has no plans to win a seventh medal at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, but has never said anything definitive about her WNBA career.
Taurasi isn’t one to welcome the spectacle, but the Mercury created a lot of hype surrounding the final regular season home game, labeling it as one of the last games Taurasi will ever see “if this is what it is.” The tribute felt like her final straw, as fans wore shirts commemorating her career and Taurasi gave a moving speech after the game in front of family, friends, former teammates and fans.
She did not lose her competitiveness in the 2024 season, starting all 36 games and scoring an average of 14.9 points. Taurasi scored a season-high 31 points against the Los Angeles Sparks on June 2, followed by a heroic effort with 21 points in a first-round elimination game against the Minnesota Lynx.
Whatever Taurasi decides, whether it’s playing in her 21st yearcastle He could be in a behind-the-scenes role during the season or potentially with the Mercury organization. She will still have an impact on Phoenix.
Kahlea Copper holds the reins.
The Mercury made a splash last offseason when they traded the third overall pick for veteran wing Kahleah Copper.
Her arrival was highly anticipated, as the Mercury decided to ditch a talent-laden draft in favor of one of the best players in the league. Copper lived up to his billing, scoring 30 or more points in his first five games and getting off to a strong start in three games.
Copper surprised the Phoenix with some defining moments, including a last-second 3-pointer in a game-winning game against the Lynx on June 7.
Known for her downhill style of play, she extends her speed and athleticism in the pick-and-roll alongside Brittney Griner. Her presence throughout the season made the entire team better. Copper had her best season ever with 21.1 points per game and was named All-WNBA Second Team.
The 29-year-old is ready to take over the franchise, and it was evident in his buzzer-beating win over Minnesota. Coach Nate Tibbetts said he drew Taurasi’s winning shot, but Taurasi decided to pass the baton to Copper to achieve it.
There is a lot of potential at Mercury’s core. Not only is Kofer returning, who is under contract through the upcoming season, but point guard Natasha Cloud, wing Rebecca Allen and wing Sophie Cunningham are also under contract. Griner, an unrestricted free agent, is expected to return, making it clear that his roots lie in Phoenix.
Mercury fans will be excited to see Copper play for the Rose Basketball Club in the inaugural season of Unrivaled, a 3-on-3 league founded by WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. We’ll find out how Copper’s offseason training is going as it’s scheduled. Cloud and Griner will be members of Phantom BC’s team.
Each Unrivaled team plays 14 regular season games over 8 weeks. The season began on January 17, and the entire schedule airs on TNT and TruTV.
Brittney Griner climbs a mountain in record time
As Griner approaches more career milestones, there’s a chance this season will be a block party for the Mercury.
The 11-year veteran will establish herself as one of the WNBA’s best centers, and she’s easily within range of surpassing Lisa Leslie for second all-time in blocks (822). She’s 10 strokes behind Leslie, but what’s even more interesting is that she’s 65 blocks away from Margo Dydek’s all-time record of 877.
Her total of 46 blocks last season didn’t count as a season high, but Griner missed 10 games due to injury. A foot injury held him back a little more early in the season, but he started to find his rhythm at the rim as the season progressed. Her biggest performance came against the Chicago Sky, where she piled up five blocks in her first game since winning gold at the Paris Olympics.
When it comes to dunks, Griner is still in a league of his own. She leads the all-time regular season with 18. She also dunked twice in the playoffs and seven times in the All-Star Game. Due to a foot injury, Griner did not have a dunk last season, marking only the third time in her career that she has not recorded a single dunk in a season.
When healthy, Griner is one of the most exciting players to watch for the Mercury.
Sophomore year under Nate Tibbetts
The Mercury made a splash last season when they hired Nate Tibbetts, as well as making him the WNBA’s highest-paid coach with a contract paying him more than $1 million per year.
Tibbetts’ hiring drew criticism because he had never coached women’s basketball and his only head coaching experience came in 2007-09 in what was then called the NBA D-League. Tibbetts also has 12 seasons as an assistant for three NBA teams on his resume.
He made a smart move by adding three-time WNBA All-Star Kristi Toliver as assistant head coach, which helped him learn more about the differences between the WNBA and NBA.
Still, he faced the heat outside before even coaching his first game. As one of the WNBA’s founding teams, the Mercury have a standard to maintain and had a rare season in which they ranked near the bottom of the league.
Compared to the previous season, when the Mercury went 9-31, the Mercury got off to a solid start under Tibbetts. But they couldn’t stay above .500, and that looked like a bigger and bigger problem.
The team was good enough to remain in the playoffs, but the Olympic break seemed to hurt more than it helped as the Mercury went 6-9, beating only one team in the playoffs. The Mercury fell to 7th place in the WNBA playoffs and were swept by the 2nd place Lynx.
Now that Tibbetts has had a year to implement his coaching style, the Mercury should take a big step forward. Injuries have forced Tibbetts to find new combinations with the entire roster not healthy, which means the team could be much better.
If the roster stays healthy, which is a huge achievement in itself, the true test will be to see if Tibbetts has what it takes for the team to make a deep run.
The WNBA is on the rise
Footprint Center has long been one of the WNBA’s most attended stadiums, but other venues around the league are now gaining popularity as well.
The Mercury ranked sixth in average attendance last season, a significant decrease from last season. In 2023, Phoenix took second place. But the 2024 Mercury drew 30,000 more spectators to games last season.
Attendance in the WNBA swelled across the board, in part due to Caitlin Clark’s rookie season. But Clark only visited Phoenix once.
For those who missed Clark in Phoenix last season, the Fever will be at the Footprint Center on August 7 and September 2.
Overall, people are catching up.
According to a study conducted by Morning Consult, the WNBA is ranked as the fastest-growing brand among U.S. adults in 2024.
The league signed a massive $2.2 billion media deal, secured more investment from corporate partners and broke TV viewership records. Players also took charter flights throughout last season after years of opposing commercial flights.
And 2025 will be another big season.
The WNBA has been steadily expanding its schedule and now has 44 games, an increase of four games in each of the past two years.
Many players and organizations have fought to expand and establish stability in the WNBA. Expansion will allow you to reach more venues and a fan base.
New teams and cities are set to join the league in the coming years, including the Golden State Valkyries this season. The WNBA expands into Canada next year with the Toronto Tempo and returns to Portland, their second opportunity since the Portland Fire folded in 2002 following three seasons.
The rise in popularity of college women’s basketball will pair perfectly with the expansion of the league as more players gain attention.
Players and fans have long wanted more teams, with roster limits keeping talented players out of training camps. Soon, fans will be introduced to more players who deserve a chance but can’t due to limited roster spots.
It will be interesting to see how Mercury reacts to the expansion. There are now more teams standing in the way of a championship, but that is a major motivating factor.
The Mercury traded Copper last season, proving they are willing to take risks to build a better team. Who knows what this offseason will bring?
This article originally appeared in the Arizona Republic: Phoenix Mercury Storyline: Diana Taurasi passing baton, Brittney Griner, WNBA favorites