The World Champion Los Angeles Sparks took on their rivals, the Phoenix Mercury, on Fathers Day at STAPLES Center. Kobe Bryant, realizing Diana Taurasi could make history, put the date on his calendar and brought his daughters to sit courtside next to the Sparks.
Kobe Bryant agreed with Taurasi when she came up to him and told him she was the White Mamba. Kobe agreed with the Mercury’s legendary guard, and the name stuck. He saw himself in Taurasi and vice versa. Her work ethic, her ‘take no crap’ attitude, her game and the fact that she absolutely hates to lose and frequently shoots the buzzer-beating winner.