Diana Taurasi warned Caitlin Clark and the rest of the 2024 WNBA rookie class that “reality is coming.” She made sure to make good on her proclamation during the Phoenix Mercury’s preseason game against Nika Mühl and the Seattle Storm on Tuesday night.
The two-time Naismith Award winner at UConn gave it to the younger Huskies’ defensive star through all 40 minutes!
Taurasi, the No. 1 overall pick in 2004, issued a stern message to this year’s No. 1 pick during the NCAA Tournament. She told Clark that she better get ready for the pros because her world was about to change because it wasn’t going to be so easy to be as dominant in the W. The 41-year-old’s comments from a few years back about wanting to “kill rookies” proved that she was dead serious.
As did her performance on Tuesday.
Although the Storm blew out the Mercury by more than 25 points, Taurasi still got hers. One particular play stood out in particular, when the 6-foot-0 combo guard drove into the lane and put a body on Mühl.
The former finished through contact for the and-one. The latter laid on the floor as Taurasi looked down and made sure she knew what just went down.
Phoenix even played into the ongoing beef between its star player and the rookie class with its caption on X.
Mühl ultimately got the last laugh with the 89-59 win and played extremely well overall.
However, Taurasi gave her a “welcome to the league” moment — and it’s the preseason so the score doesn’t matter.
As it would turn out, the legendary veteran’s physical play was not confined to that one play. Both former UConn standouts met up after the game for a chat. Mühl told Taurasi that she was “pushing me all over the court.” Taurasi told Mühl that she was “waiting for her” and wanted to do the step-up on her.
There is an obvious chip on the GOAT’s shoulder when it comes to rookies in general. This year’s class only heightens those tensions. Diana Taurasi will get her first opportunity to teach Clark the same lesson she taught Mühl when the Mercury host the Fever on May 14!
Though if the final result is similar to the one on Tuesday, Clark won’t care what Taurasi does…