Penny Taylor

Penelope Jane Taylor (born 24 May 1981) is an Australian former professional basketball player and assistant coach. During her 19-year career, Taylor spent the most time with the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, where she won three championships. She also won the WNBL title with her first club, the Australian Institute of Sport, and played in China, Italy, Turkey and Russia. As part of the Australian woman's national team, Taylor won two Olympic medals and led the Australian Opals to a gold medal at the World Championships, winning tournament MVP honours ahead of teammate Lauren Jackson.

Early life Penny Taylor was born in Melbourne, Victoria to English parents Michael Taylor and Denna Taylor. She has a younger brother named Phillip and older sister named Heather. Her parents enrolled Taylor in the Belgrave South Red Devils basketball club at the age of four. The camaraderie helped Taylor overcome her shyness, and eventually move to the Nunawading Spectres. She attended Upwey High School in Upwey, Victoria, and after graduating earned a scholarship to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.

Taylor holds a UK passport due to her parents' origin.

WNBL career Taylor debuted in the Women's National Basketball League playing for the AIS (Australian Institute of Sport) starting in 1997–98, winning the WNBL title the following season. Afterwards she moved to Dandenong Rangers, where she remained from 1999 to 2002. Taylor led the league in scoring with 25.5 points per game and steals with 2.5 steals per game during the 2000–01 season, being named the WNBL MVP in that season and the next.

After 12 years away from the Australian league, Taylor signed with the Rangers for the 2014–15 WNBL season. Her main intention for the return was to stay close to her family, playing in front of her nephews while also tending for her cancer-ridden father. She scored 20.2 points a game from 17 matches in qualifying the Rangers for the playoffs. During the semifinals against the Sydney Uni Flames, the Rangers were 15 points ahead when Taylor injured her ankle with eight minutes remaining, and her absence was enough for Sydney to take over and win the game.

WNBA career Taylor was selected by the Cleveland Rockers in the first round (11th overall) during the annual WNBA draft on 20 April 2001. She starred for the Rockers for three seasons.

In January 2004, the WNBA held a dispersal draft, where the league's existing teams selected former players from the Rockers team. Taylor was selected as the first overall pick by the Phoenix Mercury. Taylor's return to the Mercury in 2013 eventually had her other knee give in after six games, leading her to further surgery. Penny Taylor (number 13) with the Mercury during her final season with the team. Taylor spent the 2014 pre-season working with both the Mercury and the Phoenix Suns health staff to make sure her return to basketball worked. Under new coach and former Australia teammate Sandy Brondello, Taylor saw limited minutes during the first eleven games of the 2014 WNBA season. Once Brondello saw her recovered enough, Taylor returned as a Mercury starter, and the team would then go on to win the following 16 games, the longest win streak in WNBA history and not lose again at home for the remainder of the 2014 season. Taylor's return helped lead the team to the best result in the Western Conference with an average of 10.5 points a game for 33 games, as well as the best record in league history with 29 wins and 5 losses, only one of whom had Taylor as a starter. The Mercury returned to the WNBA Finals, winning the title against the Chicago Sky. An unsigned free agent in 2015, she decided to sit out the 2015 season for personal reasons after the loss of her father. The Mercury re-signed her on 8 February 2016, and Taylor was present right at the first game to start her thirteenth season at the WNBA. Her last career game happened on 2 October in Phoenix, as the Mercury were swept by the Minnesota Lynx in the WNBA semifinals.

International basketball Taylor (number 7) and the Opals at the podium for the 2006 World Championship, where she was chosen Most Valuable Player. Taylor has been a regular member of the Australian national team, the 'Opals', since 2002, when won a bronze medal in the 2002 World Championship. Her biggest accomplishment was winning the 2006 World Championship in Brazil, where Taylor was named Most Valuable Player of the championship. They won silver medals in consecutive Olympiads: Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. She wound up out of the Opals for the 2012 Summer Olympics after injuring herself playing in Turkey for Fenerbahçe. Taylor was named Australian Opals captain for the 2014 World Championship, helping the team win the bronze medal, and was named to the All-Star Five.

During the WNBA offseason, Taylor has played in Italy, Russia and Turkey, winning each league at least once. After giving birth to a son in March 2018, Taylor took a year off from coaching. In April 2019, the Mercury announced that Taylor had been hired as an assistant coach. It was announced on 6 July 2020 that Taylor would step down as assistant coach of the Mercury to focus on being a full-time mother.

Personal life Taylor was married in 2005 to Brazilian volleyball player Rodrigo Rodrigues Gil, but they later divorced.

After dating for eight years, on 13 May 2017, she married fellow Phoenix Mercury star Diana Taurasi.

On 1 March 2018, the couple welcomed their first child when Taylor gave birth to their son Leo Michael Taurasi-Taylor.

Taylor expected to give birth to the couple's second child on October 6, 2021, but the pregnancy lasted beyond the due date. After a Game 4 loss in the semifinals, Taurasi played in a winner-take-all Game 5 that would decide whether the Phoenix Mercury would play in the 2021 WNBA finals. After a Game 5 win on October 8, 2021, Taurasi had a message for Taylor in her post-game interview, closing with "Hold it in babe, I'm coming." Taurasi then flew from Las Vegas, where the game took place, back to Phoenix, arriving in time to witness Taylor give birth to their daughter—Isla Taurasi-Taylor—on October 9, 2021, at 4:24 am; with Taurasi by her side mere hours after Taurasi played the Las Vegas Aces in Las Vegas for game five of the 2021 WNBA Semifinals.

WNBA career statistics

†Denotes seasons in which Taylor won a WNBA championship

WNBA regular season

WNBA Postseason