The WNBA of course is no different than other professional sports leagues in that oftentimes, veterans of the league will “welcome in” younger players, particularly rookies, by playing extra hard against them. Recently, WNBA star Diana Taurasi took what some perceived as a shot at Clark during an appearance on Sportscenter with Scott Van Pelt.

“Look, SVP. Reality is coming,” Taurasi said. “We all went through it. That happens on the NBA side, and you’re going to see it on this side. You look superhuman playing against 18-year-olds, but you’re going to come with some grown women that have been playing professional basketball for a long time.”

Now, fellow WNBA star and two-time league MVP Elena Delle Donne is clarifying what she thought Taurasi meant with her assertion.

“Diana’s like Kobe [Bryant],” Elena Delle Donne said, per Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. “She’s going to test you, so you have to be ready. That’s her, her personality. I love her from being on Team USA. She’s Kobe. I mean, Kobe plowed his own teammate [Pau Gasol] in the Olympics, so no one’s safe.”

Indeed, Taurasi has always been known as a fierce competitor.

An interesting situation for Caitlin Clark

Another person who drew some online criticism for her perceived slights at Caitlin Clark was fellow WNBA icon and 2002 number one overall draft pick Sue Bird, who recently recalled her own experiences in dealing with some difficult competition when arriving on the WNBA scene.

ong the way from different players, but the story that tells it the best is when we played against the L.A. Sparks,” Bird said, per ESPN. ” At the time they had a point guard named Nicky McCrimmon, and she was tough on defense. She could pick you up full court, that kind of a thing.

“But I noticed that it was a little more than normal. She was really picking me up full court, really pressuring me, and I was like, what the f—? Then she actually stripped me in the backcourt two times, which as point guard, is a nightmare. You never want to have that happen. Well, I heard later that [former Sparks coach] Michael Cooper had essentially put, not literally a bounty on my head, but basically before the game was like, ‘Yo, Nicky, every time you strip Sue, I’m going to give you whatever, whatever.’”

In any case, Caitlin Clark will have to deal with some tough competition in a few months.

About the Author

Jackson Stone is a sports journalist for ClutchPoints with expertise in covering the NBA, NFL, and CAA Football. The Mercer University senior from Atlanta is on track to graduate with a BA in communications, and he has bylines at FanSided and USA Today Sports’ Georgia athletics website. More about Jackson Stone