In 2017, in the game where Taurusi was named the WNBA's all-time scoring champion, Bryant personally went to the scene to watch the game and stood up to congratulate Taurusi at the moment when he broke the record. In May 2019, Bryant invited Tao Lexi as a commentator in the program "Details" to send a cup of "poisoned milk" to Klay Thompson, who performed well in the Western Conference. As an NBA superstar, its strength and popularity are top-notch, why would you pay so much attention to a WNBA player who does not pay much attention?
Because Tao Lexi is not an ordinary WNBA guard, it is the existence of TOP 1 in the history of the WNBA, so it has the name of "Female Jordan". However, it is not appropriate to call her "Female Jordan" here, after all, she is not only good at scoring within the three-point line, she is also good at scoring outside, and passing is also her strength, to be precise, it should be a combination of "Jordan + Curry", which is ridiculously strong. In addition, Tao Lexi's professionalism is also deeply recognized by Kobe, as if he sees his own shadow in her.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Who is Tao Lexi? </h1>
Because the attention of the WNBA is far inferior to that of the NBA, It is difficult for Tao Lexi, the first person in WNBA history, to be known to fans around the world. Taurusi rose to fame during his time at the University of Connecticut, winning the MVP of the NCAA Championship twice and the NCAA championship three times. In 2004, she participated in the WNBA Draft, was selected by the Phoenix Mercury as a champion, and began her WNBA career journey. Let's understand this god god from three aspects:
First, honor.
Taurusi is definitely not inferior to many big names in the NBA in terms of honors, and her hard honors so far in her WNBA career are:
3-time overall champion;
2 FMVPs;
1 x MVP;
5 scoring kings;
9 times the best team first team;
7-time all-Star team selection;
WNBA All-Time Leading Scorer;
WNBA All-Time Three-Point King.
Due to the short WNBA season and limited player income, most players travel overseas to play in the offseason, so let's take a look at Howsie's overseas campaign:
6-time European Union champion;
7-time overall champion of the Russian Federation;
Two European Union MVPs;
Turkish League Championship.
Torasy is not only famous in the United States, but also in overseas battles.
Second, data.
Since it can be called the first person in the history of the WNBA, only the honor is obviously not enough, and the data must be unmatched.
Up to now, Taurusi has averaged 19.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.0 steals per game in the regular season, shooting 43.3% from the field, 36.7% from three-point range, averaging 2.5 three-pointers per game, and 58.6% of career true shooting; averaging 20.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 0.9 steals per game in the playoffs, shooting 45.4% from the field and 37.5% from three-point range. He averaged 2.8 three-pointers per game and shot 59.9 percent of his career true shooting. It can be found that Taurasi's playoff performance is better than the regular season, and the efficiency is also quite high.
So, what about the historical data of Taurasi?
Whether it is the regular season or the playoffs, its total number of points and three-point shooting totals rank first in WNBA history, compared to the NBA, it is simply a combination of Abdul-Abdul-Jabbar, James, Ray Allen and Curry; and its total number of assists is also ranked fourth in the regular season and third in the playoffs, respectively. For this reason, we can draw a conclusion that this Peach sister not only has excellent scoring ability, but also has excellent passing.
In addition, we chose to look at her performance in the 2009 season, when she won three awards: MVP, Championship and FMVP.
In the regular season, he played 31 games (34 games in the season), averaging 20.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.4 blocks per game, and was the leading scorer of the season; and with a 25% utilization rate, he played 62.3% of the true shooting rate, ranking second in the league among all players who played in 20 or more games in the league; and when Taurusi was on the floor, the team's offensive efficiency was 6.9 higher than when he was not on the court.
In the playoffs, she played in 11 games, averaging 22.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 0.7 steals, 1.3 blocks, and 59.3% true shooting rate with 28.4% usage; this may be another reason why she is called "Female Jordan", which is a higher level of playoff performance than in the regular season.
Third, the offensive end.
Taurusi's childhood idol was Magic Johnson, and she firmly believed that basketball was not only about scoring her own goals, but more importantly about assisting her teammates to score. So since she started playing basketball, she has unconsciously integrated the pass into the game, which also laid the foundation for her strong assist ability now. However, she began to deliberately practice passing as a child, and she did not think that scoring was her strongest talent.
There are no dead ends in the shooting. Since Taurasi has only played 6 games this season due to injury, let's use her most classic 2009 season as an example to see her projection of the regular season and playoffs in the 2009 season:
The inside area does not seem to be too difficult to score for the 1.83-meter double guard, whether it is the regular season or the playoffs, the basket has a shooting rate of more than 60%, she can use the speed advantage to quickly lay down in the conversion offense, she can also rely on the opponent who is taller than her to score the ball in the breakthrough process, she can also slip the bottom line to run back to the basket; in the 5-9 foot near frame area, she also has a hand throwing technique, and she can also use the fake action to shake off the opponent's basket. You can even score the ball in other strange poses, maybe that's talent.
Taurusi doesn't shoot much from mid-range (10-14 feet) and long two-pointers (15-19 feet), and is about 25 percent in the regular season, shooting above the league average; she often uses "catch and shoot" in mid-range, or simply uses singles to end.
Outside scoring is also not difficult for Tao Lexi, her three-point shooting rate in the regular season is as high as 46.3%, she has a shooting rate of more than 40% in the bottom corners of the two sides and 45 degrees on both sides, there is a 50% (few shots) shooting rate at the top of the arc, and even the experience of pressing three points at half-time, is this not "female Curry"? Defensive pressure increased in the playoffs, and she was able to shoot 36.5 percent from three-point range.
Excellent assist ability. Tao Lexi's assists have been excellent since he was a child, after all, he is a fan of magicians, and his technique is naturally not bad. Let's take a look at Taurasi's pass:
Breakthrough to attract opponents to assist, back pass assists to empty teammates, layups to score;
Wrapped up at the three-point line by the opponent, still passing the ball to the empty teammate, the layup scores;
Use the "no look pass" to pass the ball to a teammate under the basket while traveling, and the teammate ends easily.
Excellent key ball ability. In a game against the Seattle Storms, When Taurusi was 9 points behind his opponents by one and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter, he hit three consecutive three-pointers, including two three-pointers in the last half minute, dragging the game into overtime; the last three-pointer was even a shot completed by the opponent's two players.
This is the first person in the WNBA, Diana Taurusi, with her unsolvable scoring ability and outstanding passing ability, which makes Kobe Bryant, a superstar who is also a teacher and friend, appreciate her. In an interview about "Kobe's unfortunate death," Taurushi tearfully said: "I've been a huge fan of him all my life. Perhaps, she prefers the title of "White Mamba".