Moore: Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird sat next to each other after the game, a first for each

A previous version of this column misspelled the name of Seattle guard Jewell Loyd.

DT vs. Sue Bird for the last time in the regular season was it for me.

It was having seen Digital Underground or the Pharcyde or A Tribe Called Quest for the last time in concert. It was being there to watch Iron Mike knock some poor sap flat in Vegas. It was Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant at the Silverdome.

I wasn’t there for any of those moments. Even though I was around for all of those moments. I was too young. I was dating. I was working. (I was ALWAYS working.) I was at practice. I was playing video games. I was at the gym. Mostly, I was just busy.

But now, how many documentaries and books have I seen on those moments? How many times have I wished I had made time to be there?

It’s why I sometimes feel like I can’t miss anything, anymore. Not with the great ones.

I’ve got four kids and a ton of responsibilities now. I can’t be at everything. I’ve got to pick my spots to make sure I don’t burn out and turn into a miserable, overworked wretch.

But Diana Taurasi vs. Sue Bird? One last time in the regular season to see whether Bird can mess things up for DT by helping keep the Mercury out of the playoffs? And Bird is running one of the best teams in the league? With Stewie? And Jewell Loyd?

There was no way I was going to miss this game.

Breaking the Storm

About 14,000 people were there with me. All the way up to the rafters. Sure there were some fans dressed up as empty seats, but you’d have to break your neck to see them from the lower bowl.

We were all there.

How could you not be?

With the Native American Basketball Invitational in town, the Mercury made sure there was a traditional hoop dance during an intermission. LA Williams was there, doing a Navajo radio broadcast. Ryneldi Becenti, a former Arizona State star and the first Native American player in the league, was there. So were a whole lot of girls who want to follow in their footsteps.

Plus, former Arizona State University coach Charlie Turner Thorne was there with Briann January, who plays for Seattle now. When they met on the court before the game and flashed some pitchforks, they were greeted by countless returns of the famous Sun Devil hand signal.

Diana Taurasi against her best friend from college. They go back before families. Before kids. Before GOATs. Before DT was the White Mamba. And before Bird flew into a walking, breathing reminder that fundamentals precede greatness.

Plus, the diehards were there to see the return of Tina Charles, who was supposed to be the low-post savior with Brittney Griner in some Russian prison over a vape pen. Charles, the former MVP and league-leading scorer, left midyear in a buyout, forcing her former teammates to scramble to save their season.

The X-Factor came and boo’d Charles every time she touched the ball. When she fouled Skylar Diggins-Smith early on, it was clear the game was going to be played with an edge.

Charles’ hit was clean. That didn’t stop Diggins-Smith from acting like Charles had hauled off and slapped her. It’s a good thing there were referees and teammates. A welter was about to go after a heavyweight.

Diggins-Smith was so jacked up that she missed a free throw, then she went to work. She hit a free throw. She went right into Charles’ chest for a floater. (Should have been an “and-1.”) Later, on her way to 35 points, Diggins-Smith banged in a 3 with Charles’ outstretched hand right in her face. (Pow! Buckets, traitor!)

Skylar Diggins-Smith never said a word of this. She probably never would. But I would. Because I saw it. Because I know what would have been going through my head if I could make plays like that. But I can’t, even in my imagination. So I keep my head in the clouds, daydreaming and watching Sky, who helped out DT on a historic night. We should remember each of Diggins-Smith’s 35 points as an assist for what they did to help break the Storm.

'Playing to win'

Bird, who was drafted in 2002, scored two points. She had been all over the floor, directing the flow and bringing energy, like always. Bird had five assists, a steal, a rebound. It just wasn’t enough Friday night.

“You know when you play a team with Sue on it, it’s going to be the most well-prepared team,” Taurasi said.

Taurasi continued. Bird is “gonna put her teammates in the best position to win the game every night. It’s hard to go against a person like that, because you know she’s doing everything to win the game. There’s a lot of players that play the game for points or rebounds,” Taurasi shook her head. That’s not what it’s about.

“Sue plays to win,” Taurasi said. “That’s a lesson for a lot of people to learn. The game doesn’t matter unless you’re playing to win. She’s taught me that.”

Taurasi? She was drafted in 2004. She scored 28, with seven rebounds and seven assists. She also made defensive plays down the stretch. A block here. A steal there. It got her teammates going like giving quarters to kids in front of a carousel at the mall.

“That’s kind of what makes her great,” Bird said. “She’s infectious. There’s something contagious when Dee is flowing like that, hitting shots … It gets her team going.”

Bird said it sitting right next to Taurasi at the postgame news conference.

More than 1,000 career games. More than 20 All-Star teams. Ten gold medals. Seven WNBA championships.

And despite all that experience. All those accolades. All those records.

Somehow, it was a first for each of them: sitting next to an opponent at a postgame news conference.

So how did it feel? 

DT just smiled.

“It’s not great, right now,” Bird said.

It was for those of us just there to see history, but it was especially sweet for the diehards; they know that the 94-78 Mercury victory will go a long way toward getting Phoenix a spot in the playoffs.

Taurasi looked relieved.

“I’m kinda glad it’s over,” she said.

Reach Moore at gmoore@azcentral.com or 602-444-2236. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter @SayingMoore.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Moore: For the first time, Diana Taurasi sat next to an opponent