Given the comments WNBA legend Diana Taurasi made about Caitlin Clark back in April, she is perhaps the last person anyone expected to be singing Clark’s praises just a few months later. But after her first showdown with the Indian Fever rookie sensation on Sunday night, that’s exactly what happened.
Back in April, Diana Taurasi sent a pretty stern warning to Caitlin Clark before she entered the league, implying that she did not think Clark would have the same sort of success at the next level as she had in college.
“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.”
That made her comments after Sunday’s game quite a bit shocking.
Clark had a prolific performance on Sunday afternoon to lead her team to an 88-82 victory over Diana Taurasi and her Phoenix Mercury. Clark finished the game just a rebound shy of her first triple-double at the WNBA level, totaling 15 points, 12 assists, and nine rebounds. And after the game, Taurasi had nothing but praise for the rookie sensation.
“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. “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, it’s pretty shocking to hear Taurasi offer such glowing praise for Clark considering the way she talked about her just a few months ago, but it sounds like she has changed her opinion.
[On3]
