.jpg) Penny Taylor at theWhite House in 2014 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1981-05-24)24 May 1981 (age 44) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Listed weight | 165 lb (75 kg) |
| Career information | |
| WNBA draft | 2001: 1st round, 11th overall pick |
| Drafted by | Cleveland Rockers |
| Playing career | 1997–2016 |
| Position | Small forward |
| Number | 14, 13 |
| Career history | |
Playing | |
| 1997–1999 | Australian Institute of Sport |
| 1999–2002 | Dandenong Rangers |
| 2001–2003 | Cleveland Rockers |
| 2002–2003 | Termocarispe La Spezia |
| 2003–2007 | Famila Schio |
| 2004–2007 | Phoenix Mercury |
| 2007–2009 | UMMC Ekaterinburg |
| 2009–2011 | Phoenix Mercury |
| 2009–2013 | Fenerbahçe Istanbul |
| 2013–2014 | Phoenix Mercury |
| 2014–2015 | Dandenong Rangers |
| 2015–2016 | Shanxi Flame |
| 2016 | Phoenix Mercury |
Coaching | |
| 2019 | Phoenix Mercury (asst.) |
| Career highlights | |
| |
| Stats at WNBA.com | |
Stats atBasketball Reference  | |
| Women's Basketball Hall of Fame | |
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 thePhoenix Mercury of theWNBA, where she won three championships. She also won theWNBL title with her first club, theAustralian Institute of Sport, and played inChina,Italy,Turkey andRussia. As part of theAustralian woman's national team, Taylor won twoOlympic medals and led the Australian Opals to a gold medal at theWorld Championships, winning tournament MVP honours ahead of teammateLauren Jackson.
Penny Taylor was born inMelbourne,Victoria toEnglish parents Michael Taylor and Denna Noble. She has a younger brother named Phillip, step-sister Abbey and an older sister named Heather. Her parents enrolled Taylor in theBelgrave South Red Devils basketball club at the age of four. The camaraderie helped Taylor overcome her shyness, and eventually move to theNunawading Spectres. She attended Upwey High School inUpwey, Victoria, and after graduating earned a scholarship to theAustralian Institute of Sport inCanberra.[1][2]
Taylor holds a UK passport due to her parents' origin.[3]
Taylor debuted in theWomen's National Basketball League playing for theAIS (Australian Institute of Sport) starting in 1997–98, winning theWNBL title the following season. Afterwards she moved toDandenong 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 theWNBL MVP in that season and the next.
After 12 years away from the Australian league, Taylor signed with the Rangers for the2014–15 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.[4] She scored 20.2 points a game from 17 matches in qualifying the Rangers for the playoffs.[5] During the semifinals against theSydney 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.[6]
Taylor was selected by theCleveland Rockers in the first round (11th overall) during the annualWNBA draft on 20 April 2001. She starred for the Rockers for three seasons.
In January 2004, the WNBA held adispersal draft, where the league's existing teams selected former players from the Rockers team.[7] Taylor was selected as the first overall pick by thePhoenix Mercury.[7]
In July 2007 she was chosen as a reserve for the WNBA All Star game. On 16 September 2007, Penny Taylor along withDiana Taurasi andCappie Pondexter led the Phoenix Mercury to the WNBA championship defeating the Detroit Shock in the final game 5 of the finals, 108–92, they became the first team to end out a finals series at an away venue in the WNBA.
Taylor sat out most of the 2009 season after having ankle surgery that required nine weeks of recovery, but returned to the Mercury mid-season and averaged 10.7 points off the bench. The Mercury went on to win the WNBA Championship that year, beating the Indiana Fever in five games, with Taylor making two clutch free throws down the stretch to help clinch the decisive game 94–86.
In 2012, Taylor suffered ananterior cruciate ligament injury of her left knee playing in Turkey during the WNBA offseason, and was forced to sit out of the Mercury's season. Her year-long recovery in Australia had Taylor going through three knee operations, including one to remove floating cartilage revealed in amagnetic resonance imaging exam, and seeing her mother die of cancer.[8] Taylor's return to the Mercury in 2013 eventually had her other knee give in after six games, leading her to further surgery.[9]
Taylor spent the 2014 pre-season working with both the Mercury and thePhoenix Suns health staff to make sure her return to basketball worked.[10] Under new coach and former Australia teammateSandy Brondello, Taylor saw limited minutes during the first eleven games of the2014 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.[11] The Mercury returned to the WNBA Finals,winning the title against theChicago Sky.[12] 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.[13][8] Prior to the August break for the Olympics, Taylor announced she would retire at the end of the season.[14] Her last career game happened on 2 October in Phoenix, as the Mercury were swept by theMinnesota Lynx in the WNBA semifinals.[15]
Taylor has been a regular member of theAustralian national team, the 'Opals', since 2002, when won a bronze medal in the2002 World Championship. Her biggest accomplishment was winning the2006 World Championship in Brazil, where Taylor was named Most Valuable Player of the championship. They won silver medals in consecutive Olympiads:Athens 2004 andBeijing 2008.[16] She wound up out of the Opals for the2012 Summer Olympics after injuring herself playing in Turkey forFenerbahçe.[17] Taylor was named Australian Opals captain for the2014 World Championship, helping the team win the bronze medal, and was named to the All-Star Five.[18] Her last tournament with the Opals was atRio 2016, where Australia fell in the quarterfinals.[19]
During the WNBA offseason, Taylor has played in Italy, Russia and Turkey, winning each league at least once.[16] The 2015-16 offseason had Taylor in theShanxi Flame of theWomen's Chinese Basketball Association, averaging 23.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists.[13]
In March 2017, Taylor became the Director of Player Development and Performance for her former WNBA team, the Phoenix Mercury.[20] 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.[21] 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.[22]
Taylor was married in 2005 to Brazilian volleyball player Rodrigo Rodrigues Gil, but they later divorced.[23]
After dating for eight years, on 13 May 2017, she married fellow Phoenix Mercury starDiana Taurasi.[24]
On 1 March 2018, the couple welcomed their first child when Taylor gave birth to their son Leo Michael Taurasi-Taylor.[25]
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 the2021 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;[26] with Taurasi by her side mere hours after Taurasi played theLas Vegas Aces inLas Vegas for game five of the 2021 WNBA Semifinals.
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
| APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
| TO | Turnovers per game | FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| Bold | Career best | ° | League leader |
| † | Denotes seasons in which Taylor won aWNBA championship |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Cleveland | 32 | 0 | 17.5 | .382 | .301 | .783 | 3.5 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 7.2 |
| 2002 | Cleveland | 30 | 26 | 30.3 | .416 | .342 | .853 | 5.3 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 1.9 | 13.0 |
| 2003 | Cleveland | 34 | 33 | 26.4 | .421 | .343 | .821 | 4.4 | 2.4 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 11.7 |
| 2004 | Phoenix | 33 | 33 | 32.6 | .484 | .427 | .861 | 4.8 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 13.2 |
| 2005 | Phoenix | 29 | 29 | 29.4 | .464 | .404 | .864 | 4.1 | 3.2 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 2.6 | 13.2 |
| 2006 | Phoenix | 20 | 8 | 26.8 | .445 | .369 | .864 | 5.7 | 2.6 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 13.9 |
| 2007† | Phoenix | 34 | 34 | 29.7 | .499 | .378 | .884 | 6.3 | 2.9 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 2.2 | 17.8 |
| 2009† | Phoenix | 14 | 1 | 20.2 | .463 | .400 | .896 | 2.4 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 2.2 | 10.9 |
| 2010 | Phoenix | 32 | 32 | 30.0 | .509 | .442 | .893 | 4.4 | 5.0 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 2.3 | 15.9 |
| 2011 | Phoenix | 29 | 29 | 29.8 | .511 | .402 | .874 | 4.9 | 4.7 | 1.6 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 16.7 |
| 2013 | Phoenix | 10 | 3 | 16.1 | .472 | .421 | .963 | 2.1 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 8.4 |
| 2014† | Phoenix | 33 | 24 | 23.4 | .479 | .357 | .848 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 10.5 |
| 2016 | Phoenix | 25 | 25 | 25.7 | .488 | .396 | .907 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 12.5 |
| Career | 355 | 277 | 26.8 | .466 | .382 | .868 | 4.4 | 3.0 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 13.0 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Cleveland | 3 | 0 | 19.7 | .320 | .182 | .750 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 7.0 |
| 2003 | Cleveland | 3 | 3 | 33.0 | .444 | .300 | .833 | 4.3 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 15.0 |
| 2007† | Phoenix | 9 | 9 | 34.6 | .464 | .400 | .912 | 7.9 | 3.8 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 2.7 | 19.3 |
| 2009† | Phoenix | 11 | 0 | 24.1 | .527 | .484 | .863 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 14.3 |
| 2010 | Phoenix | 4 | 4 | 31.8 | .474 | .556 | .882 | 4.8 | 6.8 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 14.0 |
| 2011 | Phoenix | 5 | 5 | 30.8 | .478 | .308 | .833 | 5.2 | 3.0 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 11.6 |
| 2013 | Phoenix | 2 | 2 | 20.0 | .500 | .333 | .500 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 6.0 |
| 2014† | Phoenix | 8 | 8 | 27.7 | .492 | .263 | .903 | 5.1 | 4.9 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 11.4 |
| 2016 | Phoenix | 5 | 5 | 26.1 | .368 | .313 | .958 | 4.4 | 3.0 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 11.2 |
| Career | 50 | 36 | 28.1 | .466 | .364 | .887 | 4.9 | 3.6 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 1.7 | 13.4 |
Awards and achievements | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||
