The Phoenix Mercury and Diana Taurasi announced today that the reigning WNBA Finals MVP will sit out the 2015 WNBA season.

“First and foremost I respect her decision,” WNBA President Laurel Richie said. “As a fan, I will miss watching her this season. Her growth as a player is consistent with the growth of the league, culminating last season with the Phoenix Mercury becoming WNBA champions and us having an incredible year with attendance up and great increases in ratings and viewership, particularly in our postseason.”

“We recognize that the WNBA is part of the global community of women’s basketball and that our players play in the WNBA and in leagues around the world,” Richie commented. “The WNBA is, and will remain, the destination for the very best women’s basketball players in the world.”

Richie explained that when she talks to players about what they enjoy about WNBA, the ability to play against the very best competition in the world, the ability to play in front of friends and family and the visibility of the WNBA – in large part due to the league’s partnership with ESPN – are the three most common factors that are mentioned.

While the WNBA will be without one of the league’s all-time greats for the 2015 season, which tips on June 5, Richie pointed to the WNBA’s top-to-bottom talent – citing performances from experienced veterans like Maya Moore’s MVP campaign in her fourth season, to promising rookies like Shoni Schimmel – as something that will continue to drive attention to the league.

The younger stars in the WNBA, in particular, are something that Richie is excited about.

“I look back at my four-year tenure and think about who has entered into the league,” Richie added. “We had the ‘Three to See’ coming in. Brittney [Griner], Skylar [Diggins] and Elena [Delle Donne] made a huge impact in their first year and an even bigger impact in their second year. If you look at All-Star last year, that was Shoni [Schimmel] as a rookie and Skylar as a sophomore coming down to the wire for MVP of our All-Star Game. Brittney set a whole new level of blocked shots in the league and became Defensive Player of the Year in her second year. Maya [Moore] had just an incredible season last year as the Lynx had some challenges early on with injuries. She put that team on her back and carried them the in the first half of the season and got them ready for the postseason. We all loved the story of Nneka and Chiney [Ogwumike], and I am very excited about where we are as a league and very specifically the current level of talent in the WNBA.”

With the WNBA season running from June to October, players often have other interests throughout the year. Richie made mention of Kara Lawson’s decision to stay in market to continue to pursue a career in sports broadcasting at ESPN and Swin Cash’s philanthropic initiatives as two prime examples of other options for WNBA players.

“Our players make choices all the time about balancing multiple interests,” said Richie. “Every player is different and every player’s path is different, and we respect tha