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The 39-year-old women's basketball GOAT teased an Olympics comeback in Paris after winning her record fifth gold medal

Meredith Cash   

The 39-year-old women's basketball GOAT teased an Olympics comeback in Paris after winning her record fifth gold medal
  • Diana Taurasi won her record fifth Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
  • The 39-year-old WNBA superstar refused to rule out playing in Paris for the next Summer Olympics.
  • "It's one of my favorite cities," Taurasi said, and Sue Bird accused her of "dangling that carrot."

Women's basketball's greatest of all time just got even greater still.

And she may not be done yet.

Diana Taurasi - the WNBA's all-time leading scorer and a USA Basketball legend - won her fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal on Sunday. Outside of her teammate and best friend, Sue Bird, no other basketball player has ever accumulated a hand's worth of gold medals before.

But even despite making history in Tokyo, the 39-year-old superstar hinted that she isn't ready to hang up her signature LeBrons just yet. During her interview alongside Bird following Team USA's 90-75 win over Japan in the gold-medal game, Taurasi pointed at the camera, smirked, and proclaimed, "see you in Paris," where the next Summer Olympics will be held.

At first, Taurasi's impromptu declaration seemed like a joke. But after Bird confirmed that "this is my last one" during the post-game press conference alongside Taurasi and head coach Dawn Staley, the three-time WNBA champion and 10-time All-Star refused to follow suit.

"I like Paris!" Taurasi said. "It's one of my favorite cities."

"Dangling that carrot," Bird said, prompting a laugh from her college teammate-turned-BFF. "No announcements today, folks."

Later, when Taurasi was asked more directly whether or not she was ruling out Paris, the superstar offered another coy response:

"I mean, I love Paris," Taurasi said. "They have beautiful buildings there and great fashion. The weather sucks, but oh well."

"Sue's gonna be my plus-one," she added.

It's not entirely out of the realm of possibility. Bird and Taurasi have already defied father time by playing at an elite level well past retirement age for most elite athletes. Both started for Team USA during the Olympic tournament, and both put up respectable numbers.

Should Taurasi continue on to Paris, she'll only need to wait three years - as opposed to the usual four years between Olympic Games - before suiting up for the stars and stripes again. Still, at 42 years old, it would undoubtedly be difficult to keep herself in good enough shape to make yet another selective roster a full two decades after her first Olympics.

But if anyone is up for the challenge, it's the White Mamba.

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