Diana Taurasi gave a powerful four-word answer when asked about her first matchup against Caitlin Clark on Sunday.
Taurasi had been vocal that Clark was not ready to dominate in the WNBA the same way she did in Iowa from the moment the now-Indiana Fever star entered the league.
However, the Phoenix legend Mercury was more timid when asked if he could face her for the first time.
“Yeah, it’ll be fun,” Taurasi said, before turning his head in another direction, looking to answer another question as part of a press scrum.
Taurasi is 20 years Clark’s senior, and Sunday’s matinee in Phoenix represents a generational battle between a WNBA pioneer and a likely contender to be one of the league’s top stars for the next two decades.
Caitlin Clark was criticized by Diana Taurasi months ago before playing in the WNBA
Taurasi was more coy with Clark this week when asked about their matchup on Sunday.
Back in April, before the Fever drafted Clark No. 1 overall, Taurasi had a lot more to say about the rookie star.
“Reality is coming, there are levels to this,” he told Scott Van Pelt on SportsCenter, when asked about South Carolina’s Clark and Kamilla Cardoso’s jump to the pros.
“And that’s life, we all go through it… You look superhuman playing against 18-year-olds, but you’re going to come (to play) with some grown women who have played professional basketball for a long time,” Taurasi. aggregate.
“I’m not saying it’s not going to translate, because when you’re good at what you do, you’re just going to get better,” Taurasi continued. “But there will be a transition period where you’ll have to cut yourself some slack as a rookie.”
Taurasi later doubled down on her comments, calling Clark’s fans “sensitive.”
“New fans are very sensitive these days,” Taurasi told azcentral’s Jeff Metcalfe, adding: “You can’t say anything.”
‘It’s like when you go from kindergarten to first grade, there is an adjustment in learning. When you go from high school to college, there is an adjustment in learning,’ Taurasi said.
“I don’t think I said anything that was objectively incorrect. Like everything, greatness is going to translate. And she shows it at every level. I don’t see why that’s going to be any different in the WNBA,” Taurasi continued.
With Clark being a consistent target for physical play in her WNBA career so far, we’ll see if Sunday’s battle between the old school and the new gives the edge to Clark or Taurasi.