Caitlin Clark just sung Diana Taurasi’s praises following months of discourse surrounding WNBA vets and rookies.
Phoenix Mercury player Diana Taurasi—a six-time Olympian with 20 years of experience in the league—faced backlash over her controversial warning that “reality is coming” for incoming rookies ahead of this year’s WNBA season.
“There’s levels to this thing. And that’s just life, we all went through it,” the 41-year-old told SportsCenter’s Scott Van Pelt in April. “You see it on the NBA side, and you’re going to see it on this side. You look superhuman playing against 18-year-olds, but you’re going to come with some grown women that have been playing professional basketball for a long time.”
Some fans of Clark have been holding a grudge against the vet ever since, though it doesn’t appear that Taurasi or Clark feel any animosity towards one another. On June 26, Taurasi told Desert Wave that “it’ll be fun” to play Clark in the Mercury’s first game against the Fever of the year on June 30.
Meanwhile, Clark said she’s “excited” for the game during her own chat with Desert Wave on June 29. “That’s just someone I grew up idolizing and looking up to and wanting to be like one day,” Clark said. “Obviously she’s one of the greatest players our game has ever seen, great scorer our game has ever seen. So for me, I’m excited, like, that’s fun. Kind of like a dream, for sure. Like, we get to live out your dream while playing against the best, one of the best there ever has been, so it’s fun.”
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This interview comes just a few days after the Indiana Fever’s tough loss against the Seattle Storm. During a post-game press conference on June 26, Clark was told that she doesn’t appear to be “having a lot of fun,” to which she pointed out that “nobody enjoys losing.”
Per one video making the rounds on TikTok, Clark continued, “We’re not going to be walking around the court like smiling when when you’re down 15 points. So being able to find that competitive edge at the same time as staying positive is a hard thing at times, but I think we can definitely do a little bit better and continue to just motivate one another. Because, you know, sometimes it’s you’re gonna have good games, you’re gonna have bad games. But, you know, it’s a team sport, you got to find a way to lean on your teammates and stay connected.”
