Although her maturity and polish in dealing with her immense fame has made Caitlin Clark oddly forged as a lightning rod, the Indiana Fever rookie has nonetheless been one of the breathlessly mentioned and polarizing athletes within the broader American sports activities panorama.
That fixed chatter has inevitably included criticism as she has made the transition from a record-setting faculty profession at Iowa to the WNBA, with some energetic WNBA gamers often offered as a foil to her.
This weekend, she bought to face off towards a kind of individuals — and the matchup opened with a cordial trade.
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Within the seconds earlier than tip-off of the Fever’s sport Sunday towards the Phoenix Mercury, Clark slapped palms with and briefly hugged Mercury star Diana Taurasi in a symbolic assembly between the WNBA’s longstanding face of the league and its contemporary new phenom.
Clark additionally shared an embrace and a few fast phrases with Phoenix heart Brittney Griner, a nine-time WNBA all-star, two-time WNBA scoring champion and two-time WNBA defensive participant of the yr.
Taurasi attracted consideration in April, when she appeared on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” after Clark and Iowa defeated UConn, Taurasi’s alma mater, within the Closing 4. When requested by host Scott Van Pelt what Clark may expertise in her transfer to the WNBA, Taurasi provided up what some interpreted as a harsh message to the two-time nationwide faculty participant of the yr.
“Look, SVP, actuality is coming,” Taurasi stated. “There’s ranges to this factor, and that is simply life. All of us went by means of it. You see it on the NBA aspect, and you are going to see it on this aspect the place you look superhuman enjoying towards 18-year-olds, however you are going to include some grown ladies which were enjoying skilled basketball for a very long time.
“Not saying that it isn’t going to translate, as a result of whenever you’re nice at what you do, you are simply going to get higher, however there’s going to be a transition interval the place you are going to have to provide your self some grace as a rookie. It’d take a bit bit longer for some individuals.”
Taurasi’s phrases weren’t significantly controversial — rookies in any skilled sport endure their share of rising pains — and given a few of Clark’s early struggles after attending to Indiana, Taurasi could nicely have been appropriate in her evaluation.
REQUIRED READING:Caitlin Clark grew up idolizing Diana Taurasi. Enjoying her is ‘nearly a dream come true.
Nonetheless, the 10-time all-WNBA first staff honoree grew to become one in all a number of voices who had been considered as important of Clark as she entered the league as maybe its most anticipated prospect ever.
The Fever’s sport towards the Mercury was unusually contentious, with 5 technical fouls between the 2 groups within the first half, although none of these concerned Clark or Taurasi. Actually, the 2 had been caught sharing a dialog mid-game.
For Clark, the chance to play towards Taurasi for the primary time was one more milestone in a burgeoning profession already stuffed with them.
That is anyone I grew up idolizing and searching as much as and desirous to be like at some point,” Clark stated heading into the sport towards the Mercury. “Clearly, she’s one of many best gamers our sport has ever seen, best scorer our sport has ever seen, so for me, I am excited. It is enjoyable. It is nearly like a dream come true. You get to reside out your dream whereas enjoying towards one of the best, or the most effective there ever has been.”