Caitlin Clark vs. Diana Taurasi: A closer look at the budding rivalry ahead of Mercury vs. Fever

Sunday's game has been promoted as "The GOAT vs. The Rook"

By Isabel Gonzalez Jun 27, 2024 at 5:39 pm ET• 6 min read

The Phoenix Mercury host the Indiana Fever on Sunday, which means WNBA fans will finally get to see the much-anticipated battle between veteran Diana Taurasi and rookie Caitlin Clark. 

While there is no real rivalry between them, some comments from Taurasi regarding Clark's transition from college to WNBA in April created some buzz. With so much hype around Sunday's game, Taurasi kept her words short and sweet during a practice on Wednesday. 

"Yeah, it'll be fun," she said.

It all started in April when Taurasi was asked on SportsCenter about what rookies had coming when they finally entered the WNBA. She answered that "reality is coming" because it is a different level of competition. However, she also added that every player has gone through it in both the WNBA and the NBA. 

Taurasi was not wrong when pointing out that the transition is not easy, as Clark herself has made comments regarding the differences between college and the WNBA. Despite seeing a learning curve just like all of the other rookies, Clark has been one of the top newcomers to watch. Clark and Chicago Sky's Angel Reese are constantly battling over the top spot in the CBS Sports WNBA rookie rankings.