Mercury’s extreme actions: Diana Taurasi Smashed the dressing room door

The WNBA’s all-time leading scorer had a rough day at the office when her team needed her most.

And, unsurprisingly, she wasn’t happy about it.

Phoenix Mercury superstar Diana Taurasi struggled throughout Game 4 of the WNBA Finals. The league’s five-time scoring champion had 16 points on 25% shooting from the floor and a 3-of-9 hit rate from beyond the arc against Candace Parker and the Chicago Sky Sunday afternoon.

Taurasi during Game 1 of the 2021 WNBA Finals. Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

When all was said and done, Taurasi had accrued three turnovers, four personal fouls plus an early technical, and a game-worst -22 plus-minus. And despite a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter, the Mercury fell to the Sky 80-74 to lose the series.

Reports suggest that the 10-time WNBA All-Star took her anger out on the door to the visiting team’s locker room at Wintrust Arena. Taurasi repeatedly slammed the wooden door, eyewitnesses told The Next’s Alex Simon.

A photo of the aftermath provided to Insider by Simon suggests that Taurasi exercised some serious force on the door; the wood splintered all the way from the metal handle through to the center.

The door to the visiting locker room was cracked after Game 4 of the WNBA Finals. Alex Simon/The Next
Neither Taurasi nor any of her Phoenix teammates attended the press conference following the team’s Game 4 loss. Teams are required by the league to make at least three players available to the media following any given game, so the Mercury players’ refusal to speak to the press on Sunday breaches Article XXIV of their Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The league has yet to issue a fine to the franchise itself or any of the athletes on Phoenix’s roster. It remains unclear whether anyone will face repercussions for the damage to the locker room door or the players’ failure to attend Sunday’s press conference.

The WNBA and the Mercury did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.