Report: WNBA’s Diana Taurasi’s backup sample also tests positive for banned substance

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When Diana Taurasi tested positive for a banned substance last month, her lawyer tried to put off discussion of the issue until the results came back for the WNBA superstar’s backup doping sample.

Now might be the time to address the issue.

A Turkish television report said Monday that Taurasi’s ‘B’ sample also tested positive for the stimulant modafinil. NTV television did not cite a source, and Turkey’s basketball federation did not immediately confirm the report.

On Dec. 24, the country’s basketball federation announced that Taurasi had tested positive. She was provisionally suspended by her Turkish club Fenerbahce until the results of the backup sample were known.

‘We’ll revisit it after the ‘B’ sample returns,’ Taurasi’s lawyer, Howard Jacobs, said at the time. ‘They shouldn’t be speaking about it at all.’

Taurasi signed a multiyear contract extension with the Phoenix Mercury in August. She has led the WNBA in scoring the last four years.

-- Chuck Schilken

The Associated Press contributed to this report.