Caitlin Clark’s rise from collegiate sensation at Iowa to the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft didn’t come without friction.
With high expectations following her into the pros, many WNBA veterans weren’t quick to roll out the red carpet. Instead, Clark often faced intense matchups as opposing teams and players made sure she earned her place on the court.
Caitlin Clark dishes on Diana Taurasi throwdown
Now entering her second season with the Indiana Fever, Clark is reflecting on her rookie year, and a standout moment involving WNBA icon Diana Taurasi.
In a recent appearance on David Letterman’sMy Next Guest Needs No Introduction, the 23-year-old guard shared the one and only time she encountered real trash talk during her debut season.
“People say that I trash talk, but I don’t,” Clark said with a laugh.
“No one really talks trash to me, honestly; maybe that’ll happen next year.”
She did, however, recall one notable exception: Diana Taurasi.
The two crossed paths a couple of times last season before Taurasi retired, and their first meeting on the court left a lasting impression on Clark.
“Somebody that did talk trash was Diana Taurasi, but all in good fun,”Clark said.
“We were playing them at home, and she fouled me like pretty hard, kind of from behind. And I turned around and said to the ref and said to her, ‘It’s intentional, you didn’t even go for the ball!'”
The fiery exchange didn’t end there.
According to Clark, Taurasi responded right back, sparking a brief back-and-forth on the court.
“I’m like ‘All right, do it again!’ Then we just kept going back and forth at each other,” Clark said.
But the tension quickly turned to mutual admiration.
“We were standing outside the three-point line with each other… and she just came up to me and was like ‘I just love ya.’ Like, that’s awesome,”Clark recalled.
“And I was like, ‘I love you too!'”
Clark’s heartfelt anecdote reveals a moment of mutual respect between generations, one that many fans may not have expected, given past headlines.
While Taurasi once said “reality is coming” for Clark before she entered the league, both players have since praised one another publicly.
Clark and the Fever return to the court on May 3 for their 2025 preseason opener against the Washington Mystics.
With Taurasi now retired, Clark may be looking for a new trash-talking sparring partner.
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