Diana Taurasi Says Her Criticism Of Caitlin Clark Was 'Taken Out Of Context'

Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi has completely changed her tune on a warning she issued to Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark before she got drafted.

Back in April, Taurasi was on an alternate broadcast of a women’s Final Four matchup between Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes and the UConn Huskies (Taurasi’s alma mater). Clark was at the time the biggest star in women’s college basketball and eventually got drafted No. 1 overall in the WNBA Draft by the Fever.

After that game, Taurasi tried to downplay Clark’s talent in an interview with Scoot Van Pelt by saying that once she got to the WNBA, she was going to have a much harder time succeeding.

"Reality is coming," Taurasi said. "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. There is gonna be a transition period where you’re going to have to give yourself some grace as a rookie."

Naturally, many people thought that those first three words meant that Taurasi was downplaying Clark’s abilities. But she ended up being right.

Just over a month later, Clark has received a lot of criticism for playing at the level that Taurasi expected: which is to say, not a good one. 

You’d think that this would be a perfect time for Taurasi to gloat and say she called it. Instead, she backtracked on her comments and offered an explanation about her statement, albeit a weak one.

"You know these days, everything takes a life of their own," Taurasi said on Arizona Sports 98.7 on Friday. "Every little snippet, every little comment, any quote taken out of context. Look, I only said it because when I watch games — and I’m sure when you talk to any professional athlete — you think about what they’ll look like as a pro. How will it translate? It’s going to translate. Like any college quarterback, it’s going to take time."

Clark is still trying to find her footing in the WNBA. Photo: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

Now I do want to give her points for not taking the opportunity to brag about her original comments, and for trying to clear the air about what she said.

But it's really hard to take her explanation seriously.

Just look at her word choice, her tone, her body language, her smirk in that interview with Scott Van Pelt. People were right to assume that Taurasi was being critical of Clark, and somewhat discouraging to a star that was bringing widespread interest to the WNBA (something it hasn’t had before). Even if you listen to her full answer, it only strengthens the case that she was being demeaning.

Do I give her props for being professional about it this time around? Yes. But do I buy her explanation or defense of her comments? No.