How Caitlin Clark will go from mega NCAA star to WNBA rookie - ESPN

Scott Van Pelt laughed out loud and clapped. Sue Bird's face lit up with bemusement. Because Diana Taurasi didn't just answer the question that was on his mind as an ESPN «SportsCenter» anchor. She answered the question every player and coach who has been following the rise of Iowa Hawkeyes superstar guard Caitlin Clark has been talking about this spring:

«What will the league have in store for [her] when she gets there?» Van Pelt asked, lightly goading Taurasi.

«Look, SVP. Reality is coming,» Taurasi said. «We all went through it. That happens 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 with some grown women that have been playing professional basketball for a long time.»

It was classic Taurasi. Brash. Competitive. Unapologetic. And it seemed to turbocharge the conversation among WNBA stars past and present who'd made the journey to Cleveland to watch the women's Final Four as well as text chains around the world with current players overseas.

Just how good will Clark be as a rookie? Can she possibly live up to the hype she has generated for the women's game as a collegiate athlete? How will veterans who've fought for decades to earn more money and benefits from the league respond to a player who has been bringing in seven figures in NIL money as a college student for the past two years? Which veteran will lay the first shoulder into her chest to see how she responds?

The answer to the last one was unanimous: Taurasi.

«Diana's like Kobe [Bryant],» two-time WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne told ESPN. «She's going to test you, so you have to be ready. That's her, her personality. I love her from being on Team USA. She's Kobe. I mean, Kobe