Before Caitlin Clark even entered the WNBA, Phoenix Mercury legend Diana Taurasi had some harsh words for her as she implied that she didn’t think Clark would have much immediate success at the professional level. But those comments have not stopped Clark from making it clear that she has a lot of respect for Taurasi.
During an interview with Scott Van Pelt back in April, Diana Taurasi delivered a pretty clear warning to Caitlin Clark as she sent a pretty critical message to the women’s basketball superstar.
“Reality is coming,” Taurasi said back in April. “There’s levels to this thing. And that’s just life, we all went through it. You see it on the NBA side and you’re going to see it on this side, you look superhuman playing against 18 years olds but you’re going to come play with some grown women that have been playing professional basketball for a long time.”
But even though those were some pretty harsh words, Clark couldn’t help but praise Diana Taurasi ahead of their matchup on Sunday afternoon as she indicated that she actually grew up idolizing Taurasi.
“That’s somebody 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, greatest scorer our game has ever seen, so for me, I’m excited. It’s fun. It’s almost like a dream come true. You get to live out your dream while playing against the best, or one of the best there ever has been.”
The two are set to meet on the court for the first time on Sunday afternoon.
