Caitlin Clark Set for Homecoming as Big Drama Awaits Diana Taurasi at ESPN

Very few can deny Caitlin Clark’s status as one of the most influential players ever to impact the NCAA. Sure, she could not walk away with a March Madness championship title during her 4 years with the Iowa Hawkeyes. But the increase in viewership she brought to the team was unlike anything seen before. It is understandable that fans must be overcome with bouts of emotions randomly at times. They have been constantly wondering if they would ever get to see the star player on the NCAA stage again. Well, they now have an answer.

According to a recent revelation by basketball reporter Vanshay Murdock, Caitlin Clark is all set to join ‘The Bird and Taurasi Show’ on Sunday! The former UConn teammates, Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, have been uniting to call the important NCAA tournament games for the last few years. They recently announced Friday’s Final Four contests, with Texas taking on South Carolina, before UConn (their former team) squared off with UCLA. ‘The Bird & Taurasi Show’ is set to air again on Sunday afternoon, as the duo will also call the national championship game live. Both days were said to feature special guests. Now, we know which special guest will capture the spotlight come Sunday.

With time, ‘The Bird & Taurasi Show’ has become a ‘fan-favorite’. This is thanks to the WNBA’s legendary duo often putting out unscripted banters, behind-the-scenes insight, and commentary for which they are unapologetic. In a way, they might be the ‘Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley of NCAA’, as the former NBA players can also often be seen throwing around their humorous banters on TNT’s ‘Inside the NBA’.

Similar to O’Neal and Barkley, Taurasi and Bird’s chemistry has built over the years. While they competed in the WNBA for 18 years, the duo also played together on the Team USA squad, and won 5 consecutive gold medals in the Olympics between 2004 and 2020. This has made the show a unique and entertaining companion to the traditional game coverage. Now, it will be made more exciting by our very own NCAA’s All-Time scorer.

At the same time, however, it might make things a bit ‘awkward’. Not on Scott’s Tots level, but still somewhat uncomfortable. After all, Clark will be appearing as a guest on a show co-hosted by Diana Taurasi. The same person who, last year, downplayed the former Indiana Fever star’s on-court skills.

Diana Taurasi ignited controversy after believing Caitlin Clark would struggle in the WNBA: “Reality is Coming”

During the 2024 Women’s NCAA Tournament Final Four, Taurasi gave an interview to SportsCenter’s Scott Van Pelt. According to the 3x WNBA champion, while Clark excelled in college basketball, the WNBA was going to be a different beast altogether.

“Look, SVP, reality is coming,” said Taurasi. “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 (be playing against) some grown women that have been playing professional basketball for a long time.”

Weeks later, Taurasi admitted that she did not regret the comments she made. She even responded to the backlash, stating, “The new fans are really sensitive these days, you can’t say anything. It’s kind of like when you go from to kindergarten to first grade, there’s a learning adjustment — and then when you go from high school to college, there’s a learning adjustment.”

Despite her or anyone’s belief, Caitlin Clark did well for herself. She compiled the most points, assists, and 3-point field goals ever made by a rookie in WNBA history. Furthermore, Clark’s 769 points were also the most scored by a point guard in a single season in WNBA history. Her 337 assists broke the previous single-season assist record of 316 made by Alyssa Thomas of the Connecticut Sun. Clark also tallied the most double-digit scoring games (35) by a rookie ever and the most double-doubles (14) in a season in franchise history and by a rookie guard in WNBA history.

Fortunately, Clark never took Taurasi’s comments to heart. She dismissed any rumored feud or bad blood between them and even hailed her once as her favorite opponent. This was because, as Clark stated, “she’s such an icon in our sport and has been in the game for so long. You know, getting to share the court with her was pretty fun, and you just see her competitive spirit”. Despite this, everyone is surely excited for the conversations that will take place once the duo comes face-to-face in the coming hours.