Tina Charles Makes WNBA History, Names Diana Taurasi the GOAT

WNBA history was made on Tuesday night in Atlanta when Dream center Tina Charles passed Tina Thompson for second place on the WNBA’s all-time scoring list. Fittingly, she did so in a game against Diana Taurasi — the league’s all-time leading scorer — whom she declared the greatest of all time after the game.

Charles, an eight-time All-Star and one-time MVP, entered Wednesday’s game against the Mercury with a career-high 7,479 points, needing eight to pass Thompson.

She finally did it with a three-pointer in the fourth quarter of the Dream’s 72-63 win over the Mercury, finishing with 12 points, 17 rebounds and three assists.

Charles now trails only Taurasi on the all-time scoring list, but that record Taurasi has amassed 10,497 career points, so it would be years before Charles, who is 35, could surpass her. It certainly doesn’t help that at 42, Taurasi is still averaging 16.2 points per game and shows little sign of slowing down.

The historic moment was made even more special by the fact that Charles and Taurasi are both University of Connecticut alumni and have been friends for years.

“Just to hear my name in the same sentence as Diana is just unbelievable,” Charles said on the broadcast. “What she’s meant to me personally, this competition, her impact — she’s absolutely the GOAT.”

The win marked three straight victories against playoff teams — they’ve now defeated the Storm, Sun, and Mercury since the Olympic break to improve to 10-17 on the year. Atlanta now sits just one game behind the Sky for the 8th and final playoff spot, and considering the Sky traded their second-leading scorer, Marina Mabrey, during the break, a move past Chicago is certainly feasible.

“We’re just coming together collectively,” Charles said. “Having Ryne (Howard) and Jordin (Canada) back in the lineup is really great. You’ve got a future MVP and you’ve got a point guard who really takes her job of getting us all together seriously, the head of the snake.”