Diana Taurasi will forever be remembered as a WNBA legend of all time. Her No. 3 jersey invokes a lot of memories among Phoenix Mercury fans, which really shows the significance it holds. But not many know how UConn Huskies coach Geno Auriemma was the influence for Taurasi to choose #3 for her jersey. And the best of it all, the story behind it is absolutely hilarious.
Amazon Prime recently launched a docuseries covering Taurasi’s life and in the first episode, the three-time WNBA champion explained the story behind her jersey. When she was a freshman at UConn, she had the choice between numbers such as No.9 for Van Exel and No.32 for Magic Johnson. However, coach Auriemma wanted Taurasi to take the No.3 jersey, the one that legendary Babe Ruth also donned.
Recalling her conversation with Auriemma, Taurasi said:
“[Geno Auriemma to Taurasi] You are gonna be number three. You’re gonna be the Babe Ruth of women’s basketball. And I was like, who the f**k is Babe Ruth?”
Well, it was not her fault that she didn’t know Babe Ruth. For many from her previous generations, she was what most people considered equivalent to something along the lines of Bill Russell of baseball. Ruth was a two-time All-Star, seven-time World Series champion and was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame with a 95.1% first ballot votes.
Perhaps, Auriemma was not wrong. Diana Taurasi went on to have the same level of pedigree as Babe Ruth. In a WNBA career spanning 20 years, Taurasi became the league’s all-time leading scorer with 10,646 career points to her name.
And to top that list, she also holds the record for the most WNBA championships by a player, having won three. She has also won six Olympic gold medals, the most in women’s basketball.
Sophie Cunningham finds startling similarities between Diana Taurasi and Caitlin Clark
While Diana Taurasi has hung her shoes as a WNBA legend, Caitlin Clark is on the verge of doing so. In fact, starting from her rookie career itself, Clark has broken several WNBA records, much reminiscent of Taurasi.
While many aspiring young hoopers are now watching Caitlin Clark as their inspiration, the current generation of WNBA players have grown up idolizing Taurasi, and one of them is Sophie Cunningham.
In a post-game interview ahead of Thursday’s game, Cunningham said:
“DT will always be my goat. I’ve never met someone who thinks the game how she thinks. The way that she was a pro and doing her weights to rehab, the way she trained in the offseason when she was towards the end of her career, when she wasn’t going overseas.”
Sophie Cunningham told me some of the similarities in Diana Taurasi and Caitlin Clark’s approach.
“They’re always 10 plays ahead of everyone. They’re always on a different wavelength.” pic.twitter.com/ANTjhW2LCn
— Hayden Cilley (@HaydenCilley) August 8, 2025
Sophie Cunningham is now teammates with Caitlin Clark and also played a considerable chunk of her career under Diana Taurasi’s veteran mentorship at the Phoenix Mercury.
Comparing Clark to Taurasi, Cunningham finds some major similarities between the two. she added:
“The way that Caitlin thinks of the game, that’s a really close second. They’re always ten plays ahead of everyone. They’re always on a whole different wavelength, and I’m just happy that I got my time with DT.”
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