Diana Taurasi Gets Real About Where Caitlin Clark Can Take WNBA
WNBA legend Diana Taurasi turned a lot of heads with a comment she made about superstar Caitlin Clark last April when speaking with ESPN's Scott Van Pelt about what the WNBA will have in store when Clark (who was then still playing for the Iowa Hawkeyes) arrives.
"Look, SVP. Reality is coming," Taurasi said of Clark. "There's levels to this thing... You look superhuman playing against 18-year-olds but you're gonna come [play] with some grown women that have been playing professional basketball for a long time."
Scott Van Pelt was there when Diana Taurasi said "Reality is coming"
— AK (@Sudharsan_AK10) September 20, 2024
5 months later, after the reg season, he's out here saying that she was wrong and Caitlin Clark is "THE REALITY"🔥🔥🔥🔥
Oh how the tables have turned. Full circle moment😂😂😂#WNBA #FeverRising pic.twitter.com/2TVq0ni02c
These comments initially convinced many that Taurasi was one player who lamented Clark's entrance into professional basketball, given the attention and star power that came along with it.
Since then, however, Taurasi has shown Clark a ton of respect, and there's clearly no bad blood between them. In fact, these two have both shared many kind words about each other, despite Taurasi not being retired.
Diana Taurasi Pinpoints "The Thing I Love" About Caitlin Clark
Taurasi did an August 7 interview on USA Today Sports' 'Sports Seriously' show. And at one point, she sent a strong message about Clark.
"When you talk about how [the new generation of WNBA players] use their social platforms to really push the game forward. If anything, we can learn from them too," Taurasi said.
"I love these kids. What Caitlin has done in the last three years, four years, is just mind-blowing. The way she has taken her popularity, and fame, and really moved the game forward. But the thing I love the most about her, is she loves the game of basketball. She works at it. She plays at a level nobody has reached yet in the WNBA.
"So for me, I think she is going to take this league as far as she wants to," Taurasi concluded of Clark.
DT on caitlin’s impact:
— cc akgae (@clrkszn) August 8, 2025
“what caitlin’s done in the last 4 years is just mind-blowing. she’s taken her fame and really moved the game forward. but the thing i love the most about her, is she loves the game of basketball—she plays at a level nobody has reached yet in the wnba.” pic.twitter.com/DMAIMYbTWA
It's cool to hear Taurasi continue to give Clark her flowers in this way. While Clark's second WNBA season is far from what she or anybody else imagines for her to this point (given that Clark has been sidelined with various injuries for the majority of the Fever's regular season games), it's still very clear that she has a successful career ahead of her.
Taurasi finished her career as a three-time WNBA champion, a two-time WNBA Finals MVP, an 11-time WNBA All-Star, a five-time WNBA scoring champion, and a 10-time All-WNBA First-Team Honoree. If Clark can come close to accruing these types of accolades, she'll surely be considered one of the greatest of all time.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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