The WNBA has suspended Diana Taurasi for her Phoenix Mercury team’s fourth game of the season after hitting San Antonio Stars forward Dearica Hembry in the back of the head with her forearm on Friday. The incident happened in the second quarter of the Mercury-Stars game, and Taurasi was merely assessed with an unsportsmanlike technical foul. She played the rest of the game in her team’s 78-72 win.
WNBA suspends Diana Taurasi for forearm hit to back of Stars player’s head
It was a dangerous frustration hit.
It was clearly a frustration hit from Taurasi, who has a history of raking in technical fouls, but this was dangerous and overwhelmingly unnecessary. She picked up seven technicals in her first 22 games last season, automatically suspending her for the next game.
Missing Taurasi, even for a game, is a big blow for Phoenix. She’s the catalyst in the Mercury offense, and is a surefire Hall of Famer when she decides to call it a career, though that doesn’t seem to be any time soon. Last week, she became the first WNBA player to tally 7,000 points plus 1,500 assists and rebounds for her career.
She’s had a poor start to the 2017 season, though, scoring 33 points on 7-of-33 shooting in three games.
