High Post Hoops’ Top 20 WNBA players, ranked for 2019
![WHITE PLAINS, NY - JUNE 26: Tina Charles (31) of the New York Liberty and Diana Taurasi #3 of the Phoenix Mercury look on during the game on June 26, 2018 at Westchester County Center in White Plains, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Steve Freeman/NBAE via Getty Images) WHITE PLAINS, NY - JUNE 26: Tina Charles (31) of the New York Liberty and Diana Taurasi #3 of the Phoenix Mercury look on during the game on June 26, 2018 at Westchester County Center in White Plains, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Steve Freeman/NBAE via Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/f9594b8ecb8de7e8f4ebea922d20c0917365624745d3e141e1208261b43e9338.jpg)
16. Diana Taurasi
This feels low, doesn’t it? Taurasi is in the conversation for the best player in league history, and is coming off, by win shares, as great a single season as she’s posted since 2008. But back surgery has knocked her out of action for the first third of the season, and so another way of thinking about this ranking is: 2/3 of Diana Taurasi, coming off of a back injury, at age 37 (birthday is June 11), absent many of the defensive contributions of other players on this list, is still a top-16 player performer in the WNBA. Taurasi shot 38.3 percent from three last season, even as she’s continued, into her middle and now later 30s, to increase the volume of the shot she’s come to define as a player. Her efficiency inside the arc also jumped dramatically, and she was attacking the rim more, getting her more free throw attempts per game in any of her seasons since 2013. Oh, she also took over primary playmaking duties midyear, and posted an assist percentage north of 30, also her best since 2013. She has an all-timer’s great sense of the moment, too. Yeah, this feels low.