SEATTLE -- At USA Basketball's team training camp in South Carolina in February, Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi said she was anticipating not getting much sleep in March.
That's exactly what happened -- but for the best of reasons.
Taurasi's wife, Penny Taylor, gave birth to a son, Leo Michael Taurasi-Taylor, on March 1. At this week's USA training camp in Seattle, Taurasi spoke about becoming a mom.
"Oh man, it's incredible," Taurasi said. "I've been talking about it with some of the people with experience on the parenting side. It's just a wonderful thing to see him every single day wake up and grow and recognize things. He's just a beautiful little boy.
"Sleep is a word I don't really comprehend these days, so I'm running on 'E,' but it's all for the cause of a good little boy."
Taurasi is hoping to make the U.S. team for the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup (formerly called the World Championship) this fall. She has played in the event three previous times, with two gold medals and one bronze.
Before that, she'll play in her 14th season in the WNBA, all with the Mercury. Taurasi played briefly overseas this past winter with UMMC Ekaterinburg in Russia, but she returned to the United States in December. UMMC, led by Taurasi's Phoenix teammate Brittney Griner and Minnesota's Maya Moore, won the EuroLeague Final Four championship this past weekend. Taurasi enjoyed watching the title game.
"I hit Brittney up, was so excited for her," Taurasi said. "She's worked her butt off over there. I know how hard it is to be over there so long. Ekat is a great club; they treat their players great. I was really happy to see it."
Because Taurasi has been out of game action for several months, she sees the USA Basketball camp as a good way to get back into game shape.
"Going up and down [the court] is something I haven't done," she said. "It feels good to be out here with Sue [Bird], obviously, some of the older players, and see what we have going into the future. Which is a lot, a lot of talent."
Information from ESPN's Kevin Pelton and Mechelle Voepel was used in this report.