Diana Taurasi’s opinion prior to the first match against Caitlin Clark

If there’s a career that Caitlin Clark or Angel Reese would aspire to mirror at the outset of their promising careers, it’s undoubtedly that of Diana Taurasi. Now in her 20th season in the WNBA, the 42-year-old Taurasi may be in her final year. Nicknamed “White Mamba” in homage to Kobe Bryant, Taurasi’s accolades are numerous and impressive, including three NCAA championships with the University of Connecticut, the 2004 Rookie of the Year award, three WNBA championships, five WNBA scoring titles, the 2009 WNBA MVP award, and two WNBA Finals MVPs, among many many others, even outside the US in Europe.

This season marks the 20th anniversary of Taurasi being selected as the first pick in the 2004 draft, a year in which she also won Rookie of the Year. Both Clark and Reese are frontrunners for this year’s Rookie of the Year award, with the competition narrowing to a two-horse race due to Cameron Brink’s injury. After a recent practice, Taurasi was asked about facing Caitlin Clark, to which she nonchalantly replied, “Yeah, it will be fun.