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WNBA legend Diana Taurasi went viral recently for his comments about Caitlin Clark during the Final Four broadcast. Taurasi's team, the Phoenix Mercury, used her comments to promote their matchup against the Indiana Fever, the team presumably drafting Clark, next season.
Some were not particularly happy with Taurasi for her stance on Clark, particularly the comment about taking UConn's Paige Bueckers over her. There's some bias in that, considering the WNBA's all-time leading scorer played for UConn.
However, it seems like Taurasi doesn't like rookies at all. She revealed in a long Instagram Live session with Sue Bird, Megan Rapinoe and Penny Taylor in 2020 her view about not taking it easy against the first-year players.
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"Every time you play rookies, you just want to f*cking kill them," Taurasi said.
"And it's not necessarily, it's just physically punking them. It's like this mental bullying that takes place right before the ball goes up, and it happens in different ways. Like, ‘Oh, you had such a great senior year, I'm about to bust your a** right now.'"
While most fans thought that Diana Taurasi was just "hating" on Caitlin Clark, some interpreted her comments as being competitive.
Taurasi didn't reach the pinnacle of basketball by making friends. She's one of the most competitive players in WNBA history, which is why one of her nicknames is the "White Mamba."
There's also some truth to what Taurasi said about Clark's potential adjustment from college basketball to the WNBA. She will be going up against veterans who have seen it all on the basketball.
One of Clark's biggest advantages is her range, which is something not many WNBA players have. The most comparable player for the Iowa superstar is Sabrina Ionescu, who struggled in her first two years in the league, before breaking out in 2022.
When will Diana Taurasi face Caitlin Clark?
The Indiana Fever are expected to take Caitlin Clark with the No. 1 pick in this year's WNBA draft. Clark was the best women's college basketball player over the past two seasons, and her record-breaking senior year was arguably one for the ages.
With Diana Taurasi's comments about Clark, the Phoenix Mercury used it as an opportunity to promote "The GOAT" vs. "The Rook" for next season. The Mercury face the Fever on June 30 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix.
Some fans called out Mercury for using Clark to sell tickets given what the Taurasi said about her.
Nevertheless, teams are anticipating an influx of people for games involving the Iowa product. Even the defending champions Las Vegas Aces are moving to a bigger venue for their game against Indiana.
