Since the Mercury participated in the WNBA’s inaugural season in 1997, 18 Australians have played for the franchise. Three of them – Penny Taylor (2007, 2009 and 2014), Belinda Snell (2007) and Erin Phillips (2014) – won WNBA championships with the franchise.
According to Australian Basketball, there is a total of 43 Australians who have played for a WNBA franchise since its inception.
Sandy Brondello, who spent eight seasons as the Mercury’s coach, led them to the postseason each year with two appearances in the WNBA Finals. Now, she is coaching the New York Liberty, who won their first championship in franchise history last year.
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“Phoenix loves Aussies,” Brondello told The Next. “So there’s always a touch of international flavor here, particularly Australians. And obviously dating back to the great Michele Timms and her jersey [number] in the rafters, which is great to see. And then, Penny Taylor, you can go down the list, Kristi Harrower.
“I mean, so many of us have been here, which is great. And I love that. … I only look back on my experience here is with gratitude and fondness, and I still live here (in Phoenix) in the off season. People forget that, but this is home.”
Australia has a strong developmental system for young players, including the highlight regarded Australian Institute of Sport. Additionally, it’s popularity continues to grow. An AusPlay 2025 study showed that participation among women and girls in the country has increased 25% since 2022.
Timms made history as the first Australian to play for a WNBA team, joining the Mercury during the league’s inaugural season. She played for the Mercury for five seasons, contributing to the team’s run to the WNBA Finals in 1998.
The 1998 Phoenix Mercury team included three Australians: Timms, Michelle Griffiths (now Brogan), and Kristi Harrower. Another fellow Australian, Carrie Graf, was also part of the team as an assistant coach, spending six seasons with the franchise in this role, and notably as head coach from 2004 to 2005. They reached the WNBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, but lost to the now-defunct Houston Comets, who went on to win four straight titles from 1997 to 2000.
In 2002, Timms became the first player in the franchise’s history and the second in WNBA history to have her jersey number retired. With her contributions to the WNBL and WNBA and the Australian National Team as a player, she was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024.
Oct 13, 2024; Uncasville, Conn, USA; Class of 2024 inductee Michele Timms speaks during the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement at Symphony Hall Springfield. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images
In 2004, three years after Timms retired from the WNBA, the Phoenix Mercury selected Australian guard Penny Taylor as the first overall pick in the 2004 Dispersal Draft after the Cleveland Rockers ceased operations. Later that same year, the Mercury also acquired UConn guard Diana Taurasi as the first overall pick in the 2004 WNBA Draft.
Phoenix assistant general manager Fleur McIntyre, who is from Australia, grew up a fan of the team because she watched Timms make an impact on women’s basketball in her country.
“It’s really important, and it’s something that we really connect to,” McIntyre told The Next. “Obviously, there has been a range of Australian players that have come and played for Phoenix Mercury as well as you had Sandy (Brondello) as head coach for such a long period of time and her success. … The Mercury have such a strong bond with Australia, and it’s really special that we get to continue that every single year.”
Together, Taurasi and Taylor formed a dynamic duo that went on to win three WNBA championships in 2007, 2009 and 2014. After Taylor retired from playing in 2016, she married Taurasi ia year later and the pair have two kids together.
Taylor and Timms have their jersey numbers retired, as they represented Australian culture while playing for the Phoenix Mercury franchise and the Australian National Team.
Guard Sami Whitcomb is the only Australian on this year’s Mercury roster, and she’s been contributing as a starter and player coming off the bench. In the offseason playing for Australia’s Bendigo Spirit of the WNBL, Whitcomb lead the league in scoring and won the Most Valuable Player award.
“Australians in general have a great legacy and reputation across the league,” Whitcomb told The Next. “But definitely with Phoenix. … It’s a pretty special legacy that, like so many of us, have come over here and made it here and played and been successful and really put the put Australian basketball on the map.”
Another one of the notable Australians is Alanna Smith, who was selected eighth overall by the Mercury in the 2019 WNBA Draft. The Stanford product went on to play for the team for three seasons and was a part of the 2021 WNBA Finals run.
After her three-year tenure with the Mercury, Smith played only nine games for the Indiana Fever and was waived in 2022. The following year, she had one of her most productive seasons with the Chicago Sky, which led to her current position as a starting center for the Minnesota Lynx.
Guard Stephanie Talbot was selected 33rd overall by the Phoenix Mercury in the 2014 WNBA Draft. Three years later, she spent the first two seasons with the team before being traded to the Minnesota Lynx in 2019.
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Recently, Talbot signed with the New York Liberty on Monday and reunited with Brondello after mainly spending the first half of the season with the Golden State Valkyries.
“It was my rookie year, my best year that I played here,” Talbot told The Next. “I was still learning a lot (from Brondello and the Phoenix Mercury players). The fan base was really cool. I loved living here. I liked the heat, but what stood out was (playing in front of) the X-Factor (fanbase).”
For McIntyre, returning to Australia to watch the pro league is special.
“I know a lot of the Australian players, and it’s really special,” she said. I have such a connection with Sami. I’ve known Sami Whitcomb for a long time, so it’s always really nice walking in every year, and you have Australian players that are part of the fabric of the Mercury.”