Diana Taurasi is retiring early from what was expected to be her final season in Russia but plans to continue playing for the Phoenix Mercury.
Taurasi, 35, has played overseas with UMMC Ekaterinburg since 2012-13 and sat out the 2015 WNBA season because UMMC paid her to rest instead of playing year-round.
Mercury center Brittney Griner also plays for UMMC, which won the 2016 EuroLeague title with the two Phoenix stars.
Taurasi is the WNBA career scoring and 3-point leader. She has played 13 seasons with the Mercury including on WNBA championship teams in 2007, 2009 and 2014.
A four-time Olympic gold medalist, Taurasi is in the USA Basketball National team pool for 2017-20 with a training camp coming up in February. The 2018 World Cup is Spain and the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
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