Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark will be in the WNBA next year – but neither of them has received a warm welcome from their future opponents and potential teammates in the league.
WNBA all-time leading scorer Diana Taurasi has called out Angel Reese and warned Caitlin Clark and other rookies about what to expect in the league.

Taurasi, 41, worked the NCAA Final Four as one half of “The Bird & Taurasi Show.” The alternate broadcast returned for a third consecutive year as the former UConn and USA Basketball teammates talked through the national semifinals and title game.

But despite LSU not being in Cleveland, Ohio, after falling to lowa during the Elite Eight, Reese still received a mention during their coverage. A clip of the Tigers forward waving to Anastasiia Boldyreva after the Middle Tennessee center fouled out inside the final minute of the Blue Raiders’ second-round blowout to LSU drew a comment from Taurasi.

“Wave bye-bye to your own career,” she remarked, causing Bird to respond: “Well, just saying, ‘Bye for now, bye college.” Taurasi replied: “Oh, right. My bad” – before the show swiftly moved on to another clip.
Then, in the aftermath of lowa eliminating her Huskies, she spoke on “SportsCenter” about what Clark, Kamilla Cardoso and others can expect when making the leap from college to the pros. “Reality is coming,” she said when asked about what the leaque has in store for the rookies next season.

“There’s levels to this thing. And that’s just life; we all went through it. You see it on the NBA side, and you’re going to see it on this side. You look superhuman playing against 18-year-olds, but you’re going to come play with some grown women that have been playing professional basketball for a long time. Not saying that it’s not going to translate, cause when you’re great at what you do, you’re just going to get better.

“But there is gonna be a transition period where you’re going to have to give yourself some grace as a rookie. And it might take a little bit longer for some people.”

Taurasi is not the only WNBA player to pass comment on Clark recently. Another alumni of UConn, Breanna Stewart, does not consider the lowa standout one of the greats in women’s college basketball history because she did not win a championship with th Hawkeyes.

“You’re gonna look 10 years back, and you’re going to see all the records she’s broken and the points and stuff like that, but anybody knows, your goal when you play college basketball is to win a national championship,” she said to “Sirius XM” ahead of the Final Four. “So, you need one.”

But the reigning WNBA MVP did pay tribute to Clark after her loss in the title game. “Incredible career by (Clark),” Stewart posted on X. “Literally uncharted territory and excited to see her continue in the W!!”

She has also joked about the rookie class being like food in an ad for the 2024 WNBA Draft on April 16.