Caitlin Clark vs. Diana Taurasi: A closer look at the budding rivalry ahead of Mercury vs. Fever…
The Phoenix Mercury host the Indiana Fever on Sunday, which means WNBA fans will finally get to see the much-anticipated battle between veteran Diana Taurasi and rookie Caitlin Clark.
While there is no real rivalry between them, some comments from Taurasi regarding Clark’s transition from college to WNBA in April created some buzz. With so much hype around Sunday’s game, Taurasi kept her words short and sweet during a practice on Wednesday.
“Yeah, it’ll be fun,” she said.
It all started in April when Taurasi was asked on SportsCenter about what rookies had coming when they finally entered the WNBA. She answered that “reality is coming” because it is a different level of competition. However, she also added that every player has gone through it in both the WNBA and the NBA.
Taurasi was not wrong when pointing out that the transition is not easy, as Clark herself has made comments regarding the differences between college and the WNBA. Despite seeing a learning curve just like all of the other rookies, Clark has been one of the top newcomers to watch. Clark and Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese are constantly battling over the top spot in the CBS Sports WNBA rookie rankings.
Clark is just a few months into her WNBA career, but she is already a very well-known player because of her impressive achievements at Iowa. Although she did not win a national championship in college, Clark made history by becoming the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer.
Meanwhile, Taurasi is in the middle of her 21st season as a pro. After winning three NCAA titles with the UConn Huskies, she was drafted No. 1 overall by the Mercury in 2004. Since then, her long list of accolades includes three WNBA championships and five Olympic gold medals.
Here is a timeline that explains the hype around the upcoming Taurasi and Clark meeting:
April 6 — Taurasi says “reality is coming” for incoming rookies
Scott Van Pelt was talking to Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird on Sports Center and, because it was a timely topic, he asked about the 2024 WNBA rookie class.
“Camilla [Kardoso] is coming, Caitlin is coming,” Van Pelt said. “There is more than just that that are coming. What will the league have in store for them when they get there?”
Taurasi’s response went viral while fans tried to decipher her feelings toward the rookies, particularly Caitlin Clark despite Taurasi not naming her specifically.
“Reality is coming. There’s levels to this thing and that’s just life. We all went through it,” she said. “You see it on the NBA side, and you’re going to see it on this side where you look superhuman playing against 18-year-olds, but you’re going to come with some grown women who have been playing professional basketball for a long time. Not saying that it’s not going to translate, because when you’re great at what you do, you’re just going to get better, but there is going to be a transition period where you’re going to have to give yourself some grace as a rookie. It might take a little bit longer for some people.”
