Diana Taurasi on Caitlin Clark wearing her Team USA jersey number: ‘I couldn’t think of anyone better’

WNBA and Team USA legend Diana Taurasi had nothing but praise for Caitlin Clark in a new interview with Sports Illustrated, in which she said that she “couldn’t think of anyone better” to take over her No. 12 with the national team. 

Clark was a controversial omission from Team USA’s roster for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, and may have been on the plane to France if Taurasi had not decided to give it one more go on the international stage at 42 years old. Instead, Clark had to wait until a 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup Qualifying Tournament earlier this month to make her debut with the senior national team. 

When Clark stepped on the floor against Senegal for her debut, which also doubled as her return from an array of injuries that derailed her sophomore WNBA season, she was wearing No. 12. Previously, that number belonged to Taurasi, who wore it for over two decades as she became the most decorated basketball player ever on the international stage. Taurasi is the only basketball player — man or woman — to win six Olympic gold medals, and also won three gold medals and a bronze medal at the World Cup. 

“It’s so cool to see Caitlin not only wear the USA jersey, but number 12. I spent two decades wearing that jersey and that number, and I couldn’t think of anyone better to take it and put it on and just have an amazing career,” Taurasi said. “And Caitlin will do that. She had a great qualifier down in Puerto Rico. It’s just going to be fun to watch her play in the summer, in Germany, and then the Olympics. No one better to wear the 12, and Caitlin’s going to put some gold medals on that jersey, you know.”

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Jack Maloney

Taurasi noted that she wasn’t involved in the decision to give Clark her old number. 

“You know, once I’m out of things, I’m out,” Taurasi said. “Maybe Sue [Bird], you know, she’s a little bit more calculated than people think. So maybe that was a Sue job. That wouldn’t surprise me.”

Clark put up 17 points and 12 assists in her first game with Team USA — recording the second-most assists ever in a FIBA Women’s World Cup Qualifying game — and went on to earn MVP honors as she led the Americans to a perfect 5-0 record in Puerto Rico. 

Over the five games, Clark averaged 11.6 points and 6.4 assists per game on 52.9/40/85.7 shooting splits. She was fourth among all players in scoring, tied for second in 3-pointers and first in assists by a wide margin. All signs point to her being on the final roster for the World Cup in Berlin this fall. 

Before then, Clark will return to the court with the Indiana Fever when the 2026 WNBA season gets underway. The league and the players union recently agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement, and the season will start on time on May 8. Clark and the Fever will take the court for their opener on May 9 against the Dallas Wings and 2025 Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers.