Diana Taurasi and Breanna Stewart are two former No. 1 picks who have won two Olympic gold medals together. They may soon call Caitlin Clark a “teammate.”
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Ahead of the 2024 WNBA Draft, certain WNBA players appear to be casting doubt on Caitlin Clark. The standout player from the Iowa Hawkeyes women’s basketball team is expected to be the top pick in this weekend’s draft.
Indiana holds the coveted first pick, and Clark is already preparing to settle in Indianapolis.
However, there are indications that some current WNBA players, including notable figures like Diana Taurasi and Breanna Stewart, are subtly expressing skepticism about Clark. This sentiment is particularly evident among members of the LGBTQ+ community within the league.
“Reality is coming,” Taurasi told ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt about Clark’s success in college. “You look superhuman playing against some 18-year-olds but you’re going to come play with some grown women that have been playing professional basketball for a long time.”
Really? A three-time NCAA Division I National Champion discredited competing against other college-age women?
Taurasi’s behavior during that moment felt genuinely peculiar and disrespectful.
The truth is, as of 2024, Taurasi is approaching the twilight of her illustrious career. With three WNBA championships and two Finals MVP awards under her belt, she has been hailed as the greatest WNBA player of all time as recently as 2021. However, it’s undeniable that she is much closer to the conclusion of her career than its inception.
The Women’s Championship game between Caitlin Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes and South Carolina drew an unprecedented number of viewers to ESPN. A staggering 18.87 million people tuned in, marking the largest television audience ever for an American women’s basketball game.
This figure surpasses the viewership of all of Taurasi’s games combined, as well as every other game in WNBA history.
Taurasi’s team, the Phoenix Mercury, pounced on the moment and marketed their game against Indiana (Clark’s likely new team) as “The GOAT vs. The Rook.”
This moment has become a movement.
Whether you’ve been here for a decade or a day – your chance to witness greatness is here.Single game tickets against the Indiana Fever are officially on sale NOW!
🎟️ https://t.co/QimDQTRVpf pic.twitter.com/LaJLfC8CIn— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) April 8, 2024
There’s no “walking it back” now.
Make no mistake: The Mercury are doing that because more people in 2024 will want to watch “The ROOK” than “The GOAT.”
Breanna Stewart, who had the good fortune of playing for Geno Auriemma and UConn at the height of the program’s success and won four NCAA titles, hit out at Clark’s lack of National Championships.
“You are going to look 10 years back and you are going to see all the records that she has broken, points and stuff like that, but anybody knows your goal when you play college basketball is to win a national championship,” Stewart said. “So you need one.”
Both women share Olympic gold medals, having earned two together for Team USA in 2016 and 2020, although Taurasi boasts a few additional accolades.
Taurasi and Stewart also share a commonality with Clark: They were all selected as the top pick in their respective WNBA Drafts.
Furthermore, they experienced immediate triumph in the WNBA. Taurasi secured a spot on the All-WNBA First Team in her rookie season, while both Stewart and Clark became All-Stars in their second seasons. By their fourth seasons, each had clinched a WNBA Championship.
Considering their ability to seamlessly transition their college achievements into WNBA success, it’s perplexing that they chose to express reservations about Clark just hours before her National Championship Game and days prior to the WNBA Draft.
Admittedly, the level of competition in the WNBA differs from that of college, and every player aspires to win a National Championship. However, it remains peculiar that these two women opted to cast doubt on Clark’s accomplishments during what should be a momentous week for her.
Personally, I find “The GOAT” conversations to be pretty stupid. Different teams, different times, different circumstances. I like what Dawn Staley said: Clark is “A GOAT.”
She clearly is. She’s one of the greatest.
And so are Taurasi and Stewart.
Though, throwing shade at Clark certainly doesn’t help their case.
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