Penny Taylor facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Penny Taylor

Penny Taylor at the White 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
NBA Draft	2001 / Round: 1 / Pick: 11th overall
Selected by the Cleveland Rockers
Pro career	1997–2016
League	WNBA
Career history
As player:
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
As coach:
2019	Phoenix Mercury (asst.)
Career highlights and awards
3× WNBA champion (2007, 2009, 2014) 3× WNBA All-Star (2002, 2007, 2011) All-WNBA First Team (2007) All-WNBA Second Team (2011) WNBL champion (1999) No. 13 retired by Phoenix Mercury 3× WNBL All-Star Five (2001, 2002, 2015) 2× WNBL Top Shooter Award (2001, 2002) FIBA World Championship MVP (2006)
Medals Women's basketball Representing  Australia Olympic Games Silver 2004 Athens Team Silver 2008 Beijing Team World Championship Gold 2006 Brazil Team Bronze 2002 China Team Bronze 2014 Turkey Team

Penelope Jane Taylor (born on May 24, 1981) is an Australian former professional basketball player and assistant coach. She played for 19 years. Taylor spent most of her career with the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA. She won three championships with them.

Penny also won a title in the WNBL with her first team, the Australian Institute of Sport. She also played basketball in China, Italy, Turkey, and Russia.

As a member of the Australian national team, called the Opals, Taylor won two Olympic medals. She led the Opals to a gold medal at the 2006 World Championships. She was even named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of that tournament.

Early Life and Basketball Start

Penny Taylor was born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Her parents, Michael Taylor and Denna Noble, were from England. She has a younger brother, Phillip, an older sister, Heather, and a step-sister, Abbey.

When Penny was four, her parents signed her up for the Belgrave South Red Devils basketball club. Playing basketball helped Penny feel more confident and less shy. Later, she moved to the Nunawading Spectres team. She went to Upwey High School in Upwey, Victoria. After finishing school, she earned a scholarship to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. Penny also holds a UK passport because of her parents' background.

Playing in Australia: WNBL Career

Penny Taylor started her professional career in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). She played for the AIS team starting in the 1997–98 season. The very next season, in 1999, she helped her team win the WNBL championship.

After that, she joined the Dandenong Rangers. She played for them from 1999 to 2002. During the 2000–01 season, Taylor was the top scorer in the league. She averaged 25.5 points per game. She also led the league in steals with 2.5 steals per game. Because of her amazing performance, she was named the WNBL MVP in both the 2000–01 and 2001–02 seasons.

After playing overseas for 12 years, Taylor returned to the Rangers for the 2014–15 WNBL season. She wanted to be closer to her family and play in front of her nephews. She also wanted to be there for her father, who was unwell. She scored 20.2 points per game in 17 matches, helping the Rangers reach the playoffs. In the semifinals, she injured her ankle. Her team, the Rangers, lost the game after she left the court.

Playing in the USA: WNBA Career

Starting with the Cleveland Rockers

Penny Taylor was chosen by the Cleveland Rockers in the first round of the WNBA draft on April 20, 2001. She was the 11th player picked overall. She played for the Rockers for three seasons.

In January 2004, the WNBA held a special draft called a dispersal draft. This happened when the Rockers team was no longer playing. Other teams in the league could pick players from the Rockers. Penny Taylor was the very first player chosen in this draft. She was picked by the Phoenix Mercury.

Success with the Phoenix Mercury

In July 2007, Penny was picked to be a reserve player for the WNBA All-Star game. On September 16, 2007, Penny Taylor, along with teammates Diana Taurasi and Cappie Pondexter, led the Phoenix Mercury to win the WNBA championship. They beat the Detroit Shock in the final game, 108–92. They were the first team to win a WNBA Finals series on an away court.

Taylor missed most of the 2009 season because she had ankle surgery. She needed nine weeks to recover. But she came back to the Mercury team in the middle of the season. She scored 10.7 points per game when she played. The Mercury went on to win another WNBA Championship that year. They beat the Indiana Fever in five games. Taylor made two important free throws at the end of the final game, helping her team win 94–86.

In 2012, Taylor got a serious knee injury while playing in Turkey during the WNBA offseason. This meant she had to miss the Mercury's entire season. She spent a year recovering in Australia. During this time, she had three knee operations. One surgery was to remove small pieces of cartilage from her knee. Sadly, her mother also passed away from cancer during this time.

When Taylor returned to the Mercury in 2013, her other knee also had problems after just six games. This led to more surgery.

Penny Taylor (number 13) with the Mercury during her final season with the team.

In 2014, Penny worked hard with the health staff of both the Mercury and the Phoenix Suns to get ready to play again. Under her new coach, Sandy Brondello, who was also her former Australia teammate, Taylor played limited minutes at first. But once her coach saw she was recovered, Taylor became a starter again. The team then won 16 games in a row, which was the longest winning streak in WNBA history. They also did not lose any more home games that season.

Taylor's return helped the team have the best record in the Western Conference. She averaged 10.5 points per game in 33 games. The Mercury also had the best record in league history with 29 wins and only 5 losses. Taylor was a starter in all but one of those losses. The Mercury made it to the WNBA Finals again and won the title against the Chicago Sky.

In 2015, Taylor decided to take a break from basketball for personal reasons after her father passed away. The Mercury re-signed her on February 8, 2016. Taylor was ready for the first game of her thirteenth season in the WNBA. Before the August break for the Olympics, Taylor announced she would retire at the end of the season. Her very last game was on October 2 in Phoenix. The Mercury lost to the Minnesota Lynx in the WNBA semifinals.

International Basketball and Other Leagues

Taylor (number 7) and the Opals at the podium for the 2006 World Championship, where she was chosen Most Valuable Player.

Penny Taylor was a regular player for the Australian national team, known as the 'Opals', starting in 2002. In 2002, she won a bronze medal at the World Championship. Her biggest achievement was winning the gold medal at the 2006 World Championship in Brazil. Taylor was named the Most Valuable Player of that championship.

She also won silver medals in two Olympic Games: Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. She could not play for the Opals in the 2012 Summer Olympics because of her knee injury while playing in Turkey for Fenerbahçe.

Taylor was named captain of the Australian Opals for the 2014 World Championship. She helped the team win the bronze medal and was named to the All-Star Five. Her last tournament with the Opals was at Rio 2016, where Australia lost in the quarterfinals.

During the WNBA offseason, Taylor played in other countries like Italy, Russia, and Turkey. She won the league championship in each of these countries at least once. In the 2015-16 offseason, Taylor played for the Shanxi Flame in the Women's Chinese Basketball Association. She averaged 23.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game.

Coaching Career

In March 2017, Penny Taylor became the Director of Player Development and Performance for her old WNBA team, the Phoenix Mercury. After having a son in March 2018, Taylor took a year off from coaching. In April 2019, the Mercury announced that Taylor was hired as an assistant coach.

As of September 2019, Taylor's spouse, Diana Taurasi, was a player for the Phoenix Mercury. On July 6, 2020, it was announced that Taylor would leave her role as assistant coach. She wanted to focus on being a full-time mother.

Personal Life and Family

In 2005, Penny Taylor married Brazilian volleyball player Rodrigo Rodrigues Gil, but they later divorced. On May 13, 2017, she married fellow Phoenix Mercury basketball star Diana Taurasi.

On March 1, 2018, Penny gave birth to their first child, a son named Leo Michael Taurasi-Taylor. On July 26, 2021, it was announced that Taylor was expecting their second child in October. On October 9, 2021, Taylor gave birth to their daughter, Isla Taurasi-Taylor. Diana Taurasi was by her side, just hours after playing a basketball game in Las Vegas.

WNBA Career Statistics

WNBA Regular Season Stats

WNBA Postseason Stats

See also

In Spanish: Penny Taylor-Gil para niños

• List of Australian WNBA players