History was made in the WNBA on Sunday when Diana Taurasi became the league's all-time scoring leader.
With her parents watching, the Phoenix Mercury guard scored 14 points in the first half against the Los Angeles Sparks to pass Tina Thompson on the career scoring charts. She finished with 19 points in a 90-59 defeat in LA.
"It's pretty special I got to do it in front of my family on Father's Day in LA," said Taurasi.
When Taurasi surpassed Thompson's mark of 7,488 points with 45 seconds left in the first half, the game was stopped and the crowd, which included former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, gave her a standing ovation.
"Once I got the basket it was pretty cool," she said. "I was trying not to think about, wanted it to happen and do it organically. It did. You think about all the great players you played with, all the games."
At halftime, Bryant talked to ESPN's Holly Rowe about her scoring record and her nickname, "the White Mamba."
"She came up to me during the tournament, and said, 'I'm the White Mamba,'" Bryant -- aka the Black Mamba -- said, adding that he responded, "'Yes, you are -- you've got every bit the temperament.'"
Taurasi needed less than 13 full seasons to score the 7,494 points; Thompson's 7,488 points came over 17 seasons.
"Congratulations to Diana on becoming the WNBA's all-time leading scorer. I am excited that it is Diana and it is my absolute pleasure to pass the torch on to her," Thompson said in a statement. "Diana is one of the best players to ever play the game and definitely one of my favorites. She has done amazing things and I am so grateful that I've been able to share many of those with her."
Cavaliers star LeBron James passed along his congratulations via Twitter.
.@KingJames salutes @DianaTaurasi for becoming the @WNBA's all-time leading scorer in history. #Respect pic.twitter.com/QnVpJj0PkA
— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) June 18, 2017
Taurasi, who averages 18.1 points per game this year, passed Tamika Catchings (7,380 points) for second on the WNBA scoring list early this season.
"When you're on superteams, it's easy to score," Taurasi said on Friday before scoring 15 points against the Chicago Sky that night.
Two weeks ago, Taurasi broke the WNBA record for most career 3-pointers made, passing Katie Smith's mark of 906.
Her all-time mark for 3-pointers stands at 927 after Sunday's game.
She turned 35 this month and doesn't seem to be slowing down. She recently signed an extension through 2020.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.