Praising Mercury Moms
Posted: May 5, 2004
With the Mercury taking on Seattle in their first preseason game this Saturday, that doesn’t give the team much of a chance to pay homage to their moms on Mother’s Day on Sunday. While a few of their moms will be in town for the weekend, most members of the team will have to rely on phone calls, greeting cards and gifts by mail to celebrate the holiday. PhoenixMercury.com asked some of these WNBA daughters to talk about what their moms mean to them and what impact they've made on their lives.
MERCURY FORWARD PENNY TAYLOR: My mom actually came over with me (Monday). It's her first time in America. She's come over solely to support me and help me through training camp. It's my birthday on the 24th (of May), so she planned it well.
When I was growing up, especially in the juniors, my mom did everything. She'd take me to my 6:30 p.m. practices; she'd take me to my 4 p.m. practices and my 8 p.m. games. Plus she was doing the same thing for my brother and sister, so she's been, along with my father, the workhorse for us. She did everything for us and you never forget that. They give up their lives for you and that's what I feel my mom did and that's why I'm here today. If she hadn't given up her spare time, taking days off of work to get me an hour away to play a game, if she didn't do that I wouldn't be playing now. She is everything.
MERCURY GUARD DIANA TAURASI: I have a great relationship with my mom. She’s been supportive throughout this whole basketball thing. It's great, with your parents, you can go home and you get away from basketball. They just love you for who you are and not what you do out on the court or your accomplishments. That’s the biggest thing I love about my mom.
Mom critiquing me on the court? My mom knows to keep her mouth shut (laughs). “Mom, I’m not hearing that. I know I didn’t box out. Don’t tell me.” My mom, she just likes to watch. She doesn’t really know the Xs and Os about it. That’s a good thing.
MERCURY FORWARD KAYTE CHRISTENSEN: Well, since I’m a clone of my mom, she’s pretty special to me. It’s too bad I don’t get closer to her for things like this, but I do pretty much the same thing for my mom that I do for my dad on Father’s Day. I send them a card and a little gift. Nothing big, just something meaningful. I still haven’t figured out what I’m doing yet, but I’m glad my siblings are closer to home and she’ll spend Mother’s Day with them. She’ll get a call from me.
My parents didn’t push sports on us like a lot of parents do. I was very involved and they were very supportive. I love the fact they aren’t the kind of parents that know a lot about the game, so it was never me leaving a game and hearing, “Oh, you need to do this or that.” They were supportive, they were happy and they were there at every game. It was perfect. So in that way, yes, they got me into basketball by not turning me off it.
MERCURY GUARD NIKKI McCRAY: My mom means a lot to me. I won’t be able to see her for Mother’s Day, but I will be getting her something. Every Mother’s Day, I always miss seeing her because I’m in training camp.
My mom played basketball back in the day, so that’s where I get my talent and desire from. She’s pretty tall. We’re about the same height. Mother’s Day is their day, so I think all moms look forward to Sunday. It’s something special. She let me follow my own path. Basketball wasn’t my first love. It was track. Basketball then just sort of fell into my lap.
MERCURY CENTER ASHLEY ROBINSON: My mom has been my heart and soul, and the one who’s pushed me the most. If I thought I was doing a good job and I wasn’t, she was the first one to say, '"You aren’t doing what you need to do. You need to get your butt into gear, get out there and be all you can be." Coming into the draft, she said she was proud of me so much and it pushed me more than ever. My whole life, I knew she was proud, but she never expressed it verbally. Whenever my mom expresses how proud she was of me, it just makes me work hard every day. She’s so happy for me, so she’s been my inspiration every day. If not for my mom, I don’t know where I’d be. I’d probably be in Grand Prairie somewhere.
MERCURY GUARD ANNA DeFORGE: The only bad thing about Mother’s Day is that it falls right in the middle of training camp. You don’t really have the energy to show your parents, or specifically your mom, exactly what you want to because you’re so tired from training camp. My parents have been supportive of my career. They’ve been with me through thick and thin. Whenever they get a chance to come out here, it’s very special to me. It’s just quality time. I have a great relationship with my family. If Mother’s Day didn’t fall right at the first of May, I wish I could have my mom out here and we could spend it together. Because of training camp, it’s hard to do that.
My parents were very instrumental in allowing me the freedom to pick whatever I had a passion for. They got me involved in everything from baseball to football. I was your original tomboy. I played everything, soccer, I swam, I danced. They gave me the opportunity and presented me with a lot of different things. Basketball was where I had the greatest success and passion.
