A few years ago, I was chatting with my editor at ESPN.com about the drinking issue in the WNBA, and how long it might be before someone really prominent got in trouble because of it.
I guess I’m surprised it hadn’t happened until this week, when Phoenix’s Diana Taurasi was cited for DUI after the Mercury’s game Wednesday against Seattle.
Yes, there have been other players who have committed alcohol-related driving offenses, including Detroit’s Kara Braxton and Sacramento’s Rebekkah Brunson. Braxton, in fact, was suspended for six games this season after her second offense.
Braxton, though, has other incidents of problematic behavior dating back to her tumultuous college career at Georgia. Embarrassing as it was for the league to have any player in any kind of legal trouble, nobody was exactly stunned about Braxton making a bad decision. And even though she’s been part of two WNBA title teams, she’s not a known name outside of women’s basketball circles. Neither is Brunson.
Taurasi, on the other hand, is one of a small group of women’s hoops players who is well known, and negative publicity involving her is particularly painful for the WNBA.
There was no accident and no injuries, so obviously things could have been much, much worse. But that’s finding a silver lining in something that deserves only the cloud. There is no excuse for drinking and driving, if indeed that is an offense Taurasi has committed.
Everybody is aware of how many tragedies this has caused for society. The toll taken is staggering. And even when no one’s been hurt, to treat the decision to drive while impaired – to any degree _ by alcohol as anything less than a terrible lapse in judgement is to disrespect a Jupiter-sized accumulation of grief and destroyed lives.
But as with any job that involves travel and frequent work at night, being a professional athlete presents a lot of opportunities to “relax” with alcohol. That’s what I meant by the “alcohol issue” in the WNBA (which exists in all pro sports). I’m not saying that there is any occupation in which nobody ever drinks. It’s just that the social settings, the hours kept and the culture of athletics makes it a more high-risk profession for the potential of alcohol-related issues. (You could say the same thing for sports writing, actually.)
Taurasi has always had a reputation for enjoying the nightlife, and that – in and of itself – is a personal decision that doesn’t inherently merit any criticism as long as it doesn’t affect her performance or she doesn’t break the law. But if it crosses the line in either case – which may have happened in the latter respect – then she will have to face the damage done to her reputation.
Taurasi is keenly aware of her importance to the Mercury, to the WNBA, to the University of Connecticut (still), and to the sport of women’s basketball and women’s athletics in general.
I have always liked her a great deal, and this incident – though very disappointing – doesn’t change that. Taurasi is a fabulous player; a force of energy and competitiveness on the court that ranks with the best ever in the sport; a funny, insightful athlete to interview; a star who interacts well with fans. And I’ve never heard negative things about her as a teammate; she’s known as a player who helps everybody reach whatever potential they have on court.
There are fans who dislike Taurasi, of course, and that goes back to her perceived arrogance and that of UConn coach Geno Auriemma during their run of three consecutive NCAA titles. I have to say, though, that to deal with them in person, it isn’t “arrogance” that comes across. They have supreme confidence, yes. But arrogance, to me, is people who act and speak as if they are inherently “better” than others around them, and I’ve never gotten that vibe from Taurasi or Auriemma.
I’m not saying that you’re wrong if you dislike both of them; heck, if you’re a Tennessee fan, it’s almost required of you. But I will say that based on what I know, as a journalist, about Taurasi, she is someone who would be genuinely remorseful and ashamed about this incident (whatever its actual legal ramifications turn out to be).
Hopefully, it will be a lesson that she won’t ever forget and a mistake she’ll never make again.
I always appreciate your opinion and agree if Taurasi did break the law, I am extremely disappointed. She’s one of the more notable female athletes and this will surely damage the league as well as her reputation. However, her BAC has not been released yet, and I am hoping she was below legal limits. Innocent until proven guilty. Regardless, with everything she had at stake, she should have never put herself in such a position.
Very insightful.
Diana did learn her lesson about respecting the refs after her 2 game suspension a few years back, she’s been much nicer, really, my guess is she will learn from this stupid mistake too.
Aaaaaaand there’s an update, and there’s no way around it: she was soused. AZ Central is all over it.
I will be very much interested in how this plays out. I’ve heard that this might well be her third DUI. If so, Arizona law requires a mandatory 4-month prison sentence as an aggravated DUI. It would be a Class 4 felony, which never comes off your record.
I have personal knowledge of this: I was convicted of aggravated DUI and served four months in state prison. Of course, I have no jump shot, so the penalty may be different for her. “Mandatory” seems not to apply to celebrities.
Has Geno or anyone at UConn commented on this?
Just very glad the Phoenix Mercury suspended Diana for just 2 games and won’t interfare with any All-Star festivities. We love Diana in the state of Connecticut and are thrilled that she’ll put on a show for her truest fans,
True, it’s a major Boner for the WNBA’s 1 of 3 poster children. But the hypocracy of USA athletics is monsterous in the male vs female category. We all assume, as we should, that the NBA is full of bad boys abuseing everything available to them – heck, Kobe – at the best a philanderer – Wilt a serial sex aholic – well Magic didn’t get AIDes at home…. and the boys don’t play the first 3 quarters of the regular season ‘cuz they flat out can’t for reasons all to clear in every city they play in. The reaction to DT’s stupidity is over the top when you look at the rx to what the males do every damn week of the season….All anyone has to do to get a story in the NBA (and be banned for life from the locker room) is stake out the “in” after hours booze and grind emporium in any NBA City.
Michelle I must say that as a fan of your work, I am quite appalled and disappointed at your view on this situation. Diana just so happens to be my favorite female basketball player, and while she should be frowned upon for poor decision making, being the type of star that she is; this proves something that is commonly forgotten of professional athletes and celebrities:SHE IS HUMAN!! We all make mistakes every day, some bigger than others. No one was hurt and no accident occurred, this is strictly a matter of bad judgement and a happy ending. Diana is quite embarrassed by this and I am sure it won’t happen again. For you to not only say that she shouldn’t be an all-star but to attack her and pretty much belittle all the good things she does is absolutely mind-boggling. This is a player that is looked at highly in the women’s basketball community and I think that the fact that she gets cited is absolutely great because it shows that no matter who you are, you are not above the law. This is something that we need to see more of in sports. We look at the way people respond to situations like this in the NFL, MLB, and even NBA but because Diana is a woman she should be suspended longer than the two games received and not be an all-star? 100% preposterous…frankly I am offended by those statements but I must say that I thank you because I look forward to her return as a diehard Mercury fan because the harsh words of many members of the press will push her even harder to dominate the rest of the season and be a better person off the court. GO MERCURY!!!!