{"id":1577025,"date":"2023-09-15T07:14:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-15T11:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1577025"},"modified":"2023-09-15T07:14:04","modified_gmt":"2023-09-15T11:14:04","slug":"oldest-wnba-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/oldest-wnba-player\/","title":{"rendered":"Oldest WNBA Player: The 41-Year-Old Athlete Is Nearly the Highest-Paid in the League"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/diana-taurasi-officially-goat-wasnt-most-memorable-moment-wnba-week\/\">Diana Taurasi <\/a>will be playing her 20th season in the <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/tag\/wnba\">WNBA<\/a> when the 2024 season begins. The guard was the first player in WNBA history to reach a tally of 10,000 points and has successfully won three championships with the Phoenix Mercury.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Taurasi is celebrated not just for her statistical accomplishments and talent on the court. The 41-year-old is <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/highest-paid-wnba-player\/\">also among the highest-paid<\/a> and most &#8220;mature&#8221; in the WNBA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-oldest-wnba-player-in-2023\">Oldest WNBA player in 2023<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Diana Taurasi has spent her entire basketball career with the <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/brittney-griner-mercury-coach-crushes-la-fans-not-selling-out-stars-return-wnba\/\">Phoenix Mercury<\/a>. During her time in Arizona, the 2009 WNBA MVP played a key role in the franchise winning the 2007, 2009, and 2014 WNBA Championships.\u00a0In the 2023 season, Taurasi was only limited to 26 games (all starts), but she still managed to average 4.6 assists, 3.6 rebounds, and 16.0 points per contest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u201cSometimes you can do all the right things\u2026 in season, offseason\u2026 that doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re always gonna get what you want.\u201d<br><br>Diana Taurasi on the unique challenges she faced this season <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ToAbEIPQYX\">pic.twitter.com\/ToAbEIPQYX<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Hayden Cilley (@HaydenCilley) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HaydenCilley\/status\/1701340937421783415?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 11, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Phoenix Mercury didn't enjoy a successful season, with the team firing coach Vanessa Nygaard in June 2023. However, Taurasi still managed a respectable season, as shown by her season stats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Across her career, Taurasi has an average of 4.3 assists, 19.1 points, and 3.9 rebounds per game. Her floor shooting rate is 42.6%, while her three-point shooting rate is 36.2%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to her time in the WNBA, Taurasi has dedicated significant amounts of her basketball career to overseas teams. By the time she retired from European competition in 2017, she'd won six EuroLeague championships (2007\u20132010, 2013, and 2016).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-diana-taurasi-is-also-one-of-the-highest-paid-wnba-players\">Diana Taurasi is also one of the highest-paid WNBA players<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Diana Taurasi may be the oldest player in the WNBA, but she's also a living legend who deserves to be well compensated. She ranks as the third <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/highest-paid-nba-players\/\">highest-paid player<\/a> in the WNBA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"ALL IN Miniseries | Jackie Young Part I\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/n3qMrY9PghE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Jackie Young is the highest-paid WNBA player, with an annual salary of approximately $252,450, reports <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotrac.com\/wnba\/las-vegas-aces\/jackie-young-29878\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Spotrac<\/a>. During her two-year contract, the 25-year-old will earn $504,900. Apart from being a top-paid player, she's also the highest-paid WNBA player in history. Young's key role in the Las Vegas Aces' 2020 championship victory didn't go unnoticed, and that's why she deserves every penny she earns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second-highest-paid WNBA player is Arike Ogunbowale, who plays for the Dallas Wings. Ogunbowale is among the most popular WNBA stars, and she's only 26. She earns a yearly wage of $241,984. Over the three years of her contract, she will earn approximately $725,952.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Diana Taurasi ranks third on the list, earning a yearly salary of $234,936. Over the two years of her contract, Taurasi is set to earn $469,872. It's no surprise one of the Phoenix Mercury's most loyal athletes and the oldest WNBA player is well-compensated. Taurasi intends to return for her 20th season with the team in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-youngest-wnba-player\">Youngest WNBA player<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Sika Kone drains the first triple of her career \ud83d\udc4f<br><br>\ud83d\udcfa <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBATV?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@NBATV<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ueJiJKq0Tv\">pic.twitter.com\/ueJiJKq0Tv<\/a><\/p>&mdash; WNBA (@WNBA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WNBA\/status\/1699217347553435703?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 6, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The youngest WNBA players are all age 21: Sika Kon\u00e9, Jade Melbourne, and Aliyah Boston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Boston enjoyed a smooth transition from college basketball to professional basketball. She became May's Rookie of the Month after she averaged 5.6 rebounds and 14 points per game. Boston plays for the Indian Fever, averaging an efficiency rating of 26.6.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kon\u00e9 plays for the Chicago Sky, and the center has wasted little time in making a name for herself in the WNBA. Kon\u00e9 made her debut in the third game. Since then, she has averaged 11 minutes per game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Seattle Storm drafted Jade Melbourne in the 2022 season. The guard spent 2022 overseas, improving her game and gaining experience. In the 2023 season, she averaged 5.3 minutes and 14 minutes per game. She had a shooting percentage of 50% and a PER rating of 19.6, the second-best on the Storm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Stats and figures courtesy of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pro Football Reference<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Diana Taurasi is celebrated not just for her statistical accomplishments and talent on the court. She's also the oldest WNBA player.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":1577036,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4898],"tags":[69738],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.3 (Yoast SEO v22.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Oldest WNBA Player: The 41-Year-Old Athlete Is Nearly the Highest-Paid in the League - Sports7<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Diana Taurasi is celebrated not just for her statistical accomplishments and talent on the court. She&#039;s also the oldest WNBA player.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/oldest-wnba-player\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Oldest WNBA Player: The 41-Year-Old Athlete Is Nearly the Highest-Paid in the League\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Diana Taurasi is celebrated not just for her statistical accomplishments and talent on the court. She&#039;s also the oldest WNBA player.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/oldest-wnba-player\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sports7\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-15T11:14:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-09-15T11:14:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Diana-Taurasi-Phoenix-Mercury.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Garrett Burke\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Garrett Burke\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/oldest-wnba-player\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/oldest-wnba-player\/\",\"name\":\"Oldest WNBA Player: The 41-Year-Old Athlete Is Nearly the Highest-Paid in the League - Sports7\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/oldest-wnba-player\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/oldest-wnba-player\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Diana-Taurasi-Phoenix-Mercury.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-15T11:14:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-15T11:14:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#\/schema\/person\/4a5ca640e351b837f47d7536bad9b1b5\"},\"description\":\"Diana Taurasi is celebrated not just for her statistical accomplishments and talent on the court. She's also the oldest WNBA player.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/oldest-wnba-player\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/oldest-wnba-player\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/oldest-wnba-player\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Diana-Taurasi-Phoenix-Mercury.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Diana-Taurasi-Phoenix-Mercury.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"Diana Taurasi of the Phoenix Mercury | Chris Coduto\/Getty Images\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/oldest-wnba-player\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Oldest WNBA Player: The 41-Year-Old Athlete Is Nearly the Highest-Paid in the League\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/\",\"name\":\"Sports7\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#\/schema\/person\/4a5ca640e351b837f47d7536bad9b1b5\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/author\/garrett-burke\/\",\"name\":\"Garrett Burke\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/700c1da9b4071731ec79187a9f8cd318?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/700c1da9b4071731ec79187a9f8cd318?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Garrett Burke\"},\"description\":\"Garrett Burke is a contributing writer for Sports7.\",\"jobTitle\":\"Sports Editor\",\"email\":\"\",\"sameAs\":[\"\",\"\",\"\",\"\",\"\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Oldest WNBA Player: The 41-Year-Old Athlete Is Nearly the Highest-Paid in the League - Sports7","description":"Diana Taurasi is celebrated not just for her statistical accomplishments and talent on the court. She's also the oldest WNBA player.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/oldest-wnba-player\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Oldest WNBA Player: The 41-Year-Old Athlete Is Nearly the Highest-Paid in the League","og_description":"Diana Taurasi is celebrated not just for her statistical accomplishments and talent on the court. She's also the oldest WNBA player.","og_url":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/oldest-wnba-player\/","og_site_name":"Sports7","article_published_time":"2023-09-15T11:14:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-09-15T11:14:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Diana-Taurasi-Phoenix-Mercury.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Garrett Burke","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Garrett Burke","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/oldest-wnba-player\/","url":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/oldest-wnba-player\/","name":"Oldest WNBA Player: The 41-Year-Old Athlete Is Nearly the Highest-Paid in the League - Sports7","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/oldest-wnba-player\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/oldest-wnba-player\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Diana-Taurasi-Phoenix-Mercury.jpg","datePublished":"2023-09-15T11:14:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-15T11:14:04+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#\/schema\/person\/4a5ca640e351b837f47d7536bad9b1b5"},"description":"Diana Taurasi is celebrated not just for her statistical accomplishments and talent on the court. She's also the oldest WNBA player.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/oldest-wnba-player\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/oldest-wnba-player\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/oldest-wnba-player\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Diana-Taurasi-Phoenix-Mercury.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Diana-Taurasi-Phoenix-Mercury.jpg","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"Diana Taurasi of the Phoenix Mercury | Chris Coduto\/Getty Images"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/oldest-wnba-player\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Oldest WNBA Player: The 41-Year-Old Athlete Is Nearly the Highest-Paid in the League"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/","name":"Sports7","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#\/schema\/person\/4a5ca640e351b837f47d7536bad9b1b5","url":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/author\/garrett-burke\/","name":"Garrett Burke","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/700c1da9b4071731ec79187a9f8cd318?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/700c1da9b4071731ec79187a9f8cd318?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Garrett Burke"},"description":"Garrett Burke is a contributing writer for Sports7.","jobTitle":"Sports Editor","email":"","sameAs":["","","","",""]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1577025"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/121"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1577025"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1577025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1577047,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1577025\/revisions\/1577047"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1577036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1577025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1577025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1577025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}