RotoWire this summer is exploring the WNBA's 50+ defining moments across its 30-year history, including spotlights on individual franchises. Below, we take a look at the 
Phoenix Mercury and their rise in the league on the court and across cultural and business milestones.
Phoenix Mercury History Through 30 Years of WNBA Basketball
Since the Mercury were founded as one of the WNBA's eight original franchises, several of the most prominent figures in league history have called Phoenix home, resulting in various periods of success.
The Mercury took the league by storm early in their existence, led by head coach Cheryl Miller and star players Nancy Lieberman, Michele Timms, Jennifer Gillom and Bridget Pettis. They posted a 16-12 record during the league's first season to qualify for the playoffs, but they lost in the WNBA semifinals to the New York Liberty. They improved the following season, going 19-11 and beating the Cleveland Rockers in a three-game series to advance to the WNBA Finals. However, the Mercury fell just short of their first title, losing to the defending champion Houston Comets in a 2-1 series.
Diana Taurasi Impact on Phoenix Mercury Championships and Legacy
After a losing season in 1999, the Mercury returned to the playoffs the following year but went through an offseason of change ahead of the 2001 campaign, as Miller and most of the team's key players departed. Phoenix had three consecutive losing seasons between 2001 and 2003, and the team earned the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 WNBA Draft, which was used to select Diana Taurasi.
Taurasi won Rookie of the Year and helped lead the Mercury to a .500 record in 2004. Most importantly, she provided stability for the franchise following several years of change, as she proceeded to serve as the team's cornerstone -- and one of the league's greatest players of all time -- over her two decades in the WNBA.
Although the Mercury hovered around .500 in each of Taurasi's first three years in the league, they missed the playoffs in each season. The team's fortunes turned in 2007, as Taurasi, Penny Taylor, Cappie Pondexter and Tangela Smith combined to lead the Mercury to the best record in the Western Conference, and they swept each of their first two postseason series.
During their second-ever WNBA Finals appearance, the Mercury took down the Detroit Shock in a 3-2 series to secure their first championship in franchise history.
Brittney Griner Era and Phoenix Mercury Title Contention
Head coach Paul Westhead left for an assistant coaching job in the NBA following the 2007 campaign, and the Mercury regressed in 2008, going 16-18 during head coach Corey Gaines' first season. However, the team returned to form in 2009, finishing the regular season with the league's best record, advancing to the WNBA Finals and defeating the Indiana Fever, 3-2, for the Mercury's second title in three seasons as Taurasi won her first Finals MVP.
The Mercury were swept in the conference finals in each of the next two seasons, and they went 7-27 in 2012 to earn the first overall pick in the 2013 WNBA Draft. The team selected another difference maker in center Brittney Griner, giving the Mercury a versatile attack. Phoenix was swept in the conference semifinals in 2013 and brought in head coach Sandy Brondello ahead of the 2014 campaign.
The move paid off, as the Mercury set the league record with 29 wins in 2014 and lost just one game during their playoff run to secure their third championship in a sweep of the Chicago Sky in the WNBA Finals.
Mercury Culture Leadership and Future in the WNBA
The Mercury haven't won another title since their 2014 championship run, but they advanced to the WNBA Finals in 2021 and 2025. The team had plenty of stability during Brondello's eight years in charge, but her contract wasn't renewed following the 2021 campaign. Taurasi played 20 seasons in the WNBA before retiring after the 2024 campaign, and she still stands as the league's all-time leading scorer, while Griner became the fifth player in league history to dunk in a game, and she holds the WNBA record for career dunks, with 27.
Griner was wrongfully detained in Russia during the 2022 season, and the Mercury led the league-wide movement to advocate for her return. She was returned as part of a prisoner swap ahead of the 2023 campaign, and she played two more seasons in Phoenix before departing following the 2024 season.
With Taurasi also retiring after the 2024 campaign, Alyssa Thomas and Kahleah Copper -- who was named the 2021 WNBA Finals MVP in Chicago's win over Phoenix -- have taken over as the team's leaders in recent years. The Mercury also took a risk ahead of the 2024 season by making first-time head coach Nate Tibbetts the highest-paid coach in league history, but the move paid off in his first two years, including back-to-back playoff appearances and a WNBA Finals appearance in 2025.
The Mercury have been consistently competitive in the WNBA by featuring plenty of trailblazers, and even though they've struggled over the first half of the 2026 season, history has shown that the team is capable of bouncing back in short order.
