Caitlin Clark David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

When Caitlin Clark was preparing to enter the WNBA, Diana Taurasi delivered a pretty clear warning to her as she declared that “reality is coming” for Clark once she entered the league. But after her first matchup with the rookie sensation on Sunday, she seemed to change her tune.

Caitlin Clark helped lead the Indiana Fever to an 88-82 victory over Diana Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday afternoon, nearly registering the first triple-double of her career with 15 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds. After the game, Taurasi had nothing but good things to say about Clark and what she’s accomplished in her first season.

“I mean it’s amazing. What Caitlin’s been able to do in her short career so far has just been nothing short of remarkable,” Taurasi said according to On3. “And the one thing that I really love about her is she really loves the game. You can tell she’s put the work in.

“Even throughout her short WNBA career it’s been a lot of pressure, a lot of things thrown at her. She keeps showing up and keeps getting better every single game, so her future is super bright. Being a veteran, being in this league for a long, long time, it’s pretty cool to see that and going into the future.”

Obviously, these comments are very different than the ones Taurasi made about Clark a few months ago.

“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.”

Clearly, Taurasi has come around on Clark.

[On3]