Paris 2024 Olympics: USA Basketball's Diana Taurasi's competitive fire burns bright in her final games

Diani Taurasi is still here because she wants to be here; she loves the grind, she loves the competition.

Now the process of preparing for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 may be different than her first Olympics at Athens 2004, but she still embraces the work as much as she adores the game.

“Sometimes I say to myself, ‘Just let it go’, but I still love it. It’s still an honor,” said the Team USA guard. “I love to compete. I know we always talk about winning and losing, but I like the journey, the preparation, the struggle. Sometimes you get sidetracked on the wins, but it’s the things that happen before the wins that I’ve really enjoyed.”

The 42-year-old Taurasi, a cinch Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall Famer once she retires (whenever that is), is still playing at a high level for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and eagerly accepted the invitation to play for Team USA when the Olympic basketball team was aggregated a few weeks ago.

Team USA lost to the WNBA All-Stars in Phoenix last Saturday before bouncing back to rout Germany in an exhibition.

“You really have to be the most unselfish you’ve ever been in your career, and it takes that from everyone because we had to forge this chemistry pretty quickly,” said the six-time Olympian, who has won five gold medals.

“We’ve had two games, four practices together. It’s probably the least amount of preparation we’ve had going into an Olympics because of our schedule and WNBA. So I think that's when you lean on (teammates) BG (Brittney Griner), Stewie (Breanna Stewart) and A’Ja (Wilson). And the young ones have got to come quick and be ready to play.”

Diana Taurasi**’s enjoying the moment**

Being the grizzled Olympic veteran, Taurasi is offering advice to the first-timers about how to concentrate on the game but also enjoy the experience. They all look forward to the kickoff of the Games on 26 July before debuting in Lille against Japan on 29 July.

“For some of us, it’s our first time; some of us have done it a lot, but you have to enjoy it. You have to enjoy the people around you. Then when it’s time to play, that’s the most serious thing,” she said.

“Every Olympics has its own distinct feel. I just think Paris is a cool city. To have some of those venues underneath the Eiffel Tower, to be in Lille in this place with so many people, and just the history in this city, in this country, it’s definitely got a special feeling to it.”

Taurasi said she plans on enjoying this final run but reiterated that she still loves the practices, the training and the work on her body it requires for a 42-year-old to go against players sometimes half her age.

“It’s funny because the curve from fun to work has changed,” she said. “I used to just walk on the court, put my shoes on and be ready to play. Now, there’s a whole tradition of two hours of activation, Pilates, stretching, therapy, this and that. I’ve kind of leaned into that and I enjoy that to make sure for an hour and a half I can run around with these young kids and still compete.”

Gary Washburn is an Olympic Channel correspondent and National NBA Writer for the Boston Globe.