Mercury Coach Drops 'Tired' Confession About Diana Taurasi, Olympic Stars

It was not that long ago when the trio of Kahleah Copper, Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi won the gold medal in Paris as part of Team USA at the 2024 Olympics. They did not have much rest between the finals of that tournament and Friday’s road game against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever, and it showed in their performance on the court.

Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts recognized his players’ fatigue, particularly that of the three Olympians on Phoenix’s roster, when he spoke after the game.

“I think you can see it in their faces, you know, they're tired,” Tibbetts said, per Michael Marot of the Associated Press (h/t the WNBA’s official website ).

“There's going to be better days, for sure. We've just got to understand these games are going to come quick here, but I know all three of them are ready to sleep in their own beds.”

In the Mercury’s 98-89 loss to the Fever, Copper found a way to drop 32 points, as she went 18-for-19 from the foul line. However, she was just 6-for-17 from the field and committed five of the Mercury’s 17 turnovers. While Copper put up a stout scoring output, Griner only had 10 points with two turnovers. Taurasi had 16 points but was just 5-for-13 from the floor and 3-for-10 from behind the arc.

The loss to Indiana dropped the Mercury closer to .500, as they are now 14-13 – good for sixth in the WNBA standings.

A chance to get back to their winning ways comes this Sunday for Mercury when they take on Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky at home.

Related: Caitlin Clark Breaks Multiple WNBA Records in Fever’s Win vs. Mercury