Perhaps a worrisome Christmas it’ll be for women’s basketball great Diana Taurasi and backers of her Fenerbahçe side. In the wee hours of the morning, ESPN reported that a drug test on Taurasi had come back positive for an unspecified illegal stimulant.
Said Taurasi’s lawyer Howard Jacobs, “We’re taking it one step at a time,” Jacobs said. “I’d rather not say what it is at this stage, they’ve only tested the ‘A’ sample. Somehow it leaked over in Turkey.” (Pun surely unintentional.)
Taurasi has been suspended from the team by Turkish basketball officials in an unfortunately timed punishment: The former U Conn Huskies leader has missed the three games with the team.
Despite Taurasi’s absence, Fenerbahçe stands at 8-0 in FIBA Euroleague Women qualifying round play, having spent the offseason building a monster squad which also includes Team Serbia’s Ivana Matovic, Team Australia’s Penny Taylor, and Team Hungary’s Anna Vajda.
