AWNBA star was humbled after some trash talk,
but a friendship might be blossoming on the court after
the game.
Diana Tarasi was dripping with sarcasm a few days before
she and Caitlin Clark officially made their on court introduction.
The Phoenix Mercury guard famously went viral in April
2024 when she implied, without naming Clark,
that the streak of success she achieved during her time
at the University of Iowa wouldn't immediately manifest in the
WNBA.
Reality is coming, OK. You know,
there's, there's levels to this thing and that's just life.
We all went through it,
she continued on to say.
You see it on the NBA side and you're going
to see it on this side where you look superhuman
playing against 18 year olds,
but you're going to come with some grown women who've
been playing professional basketball for a long time.
However, Tarasi totally ate her words when she went against
Clark and her team,
the Indiana Fever, on June 30th.
Clark's team bested the Phoenix Mercury,
securing the final score of
8882. And though social media expected
Tarasi's loss to prompt even more shade,
she simply showered Clark with praise.
She said after the game.
It's amazing what Caitlin's been able to do in her
short career so far.
The one thing that I really love about her,
she loves the game. You can tell she's put the
work in.
It's been a lot of pressure,
a lot of things thrown at her,
and she keeps showing up and it's getting better every
single game.
Terasi also foresees a bright future for the WNBA rookie.
Fans, meanwhile, foresee a possible friendship between the pros.
After all, Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fevers win over
the Phoenix Mercury put her in a prime position to
get in the little well deserved gloating.
The WNBA star has been inundated with hate since she
entered the league,
so no one would blame her if she embraced a
petty moment.
However, Clark decided to offer Terasi a little grace following
the game,
which prompted fans from both teams to give Clark a
standing ovation.
She delivered her thoughts to ESPN.
I'm just happy we won.
It was cool to play against her and obviously a
really great game.
And like you said, this crowd was absolutely incredible.
With that said, the Indiana Fever organization was slightly less
gracious about Taurasi loss.
The teams official social media account took a little time
out of their postgame celebrations to throw some undeniable shade
alongside a photo of team members celebrating their exciting win.
The team wrote. Reality check fever win.
Naturally, social media was all for the pettiness.
1 fan tweeted. This might have been one of my
favorite WNBA games I've attended and marks the first time
I've ever rooted against the mercury.
What a day. I love women sports.
Basketball fans are often fueled by the competitive nature of
their favorite pro athletes,
but they have also been known to embrace sportsmanship as
well.
And they seem to appreciate how Diana Tarasi and Caitlin
Clark interacted during the WNBA game on June 30th.
Surprisingly, the rivals were seen embracing ahead of the game.
In a clip posted by Yahoo Sports,
Tarasi happily walked towards Clark and shook her hand before
pulling her into a brief hug.
They also exchanged a friendly greeting.
Tarasi's teammate, Brittany Griner, also took a moment to greet
Clark.
1 fan tweeted love this.
Y'all can kill the narratives now and enjoy the WNBA.
Fans were equally thrilled to see Taurasi and Clark engaging
in a friendly conversation during downtime in the game,
One fan posted. I loved seeing Diana Taurasi and Caitlin
Clark on the court like this.
These two never even hated each other in the 1st
place and clearly have mutual respect for each other.
Can't wait to see them play each other again,
another fan wrote. Not in a million years did I
expect Diana Tarasi and Brittany Greiner to be the ones
to provide Caitlin Clark with the warmest welcome to any
away arena that she's received thus far.
Major credit to both of them and the Mercury organization.