Greatness recognizes greatness, and that’s exactly how Diana Taurasi knew Caitlin Clark was going to “take this league as far as she wants.” It’s not just flattery; Taurasi’s claim comes with receipts. In 2024, Clark’s rookie season, the WNBA shattered viewership records. According to the league, viewership across ESPN platforms was up a staggering 170% compared to the previous year. CBS Sports also saw an 86% jump, while NBA TV’s numbers more than quadrupled from 2023. Simply put: Caitlin Clark shifted the W’s trajectory.

And in her own way, Taurasi had done the same. Though not through rookie fireworks, but by becoming the league’s loudest advocate for better pay and playing conditions. In Amazon Prime Video’s new docuseries Taurasi (premiered August 7, 2025), she even opened up about just how poorly compensated she was throughout her career.

However, off-court revolution is hardly their only common ground. On the court, their styles have more in common than casual fans might think. It’s something Sophie Cunningham can attest to. Because Cunningham spent her first six seasons with the Phoenix Mercury alongside Taurasi and she now shares the floor in Indiana with Clark. When she talks about them, she’s speaking from experience:

“D.T. will always be my GOAT… I’ve never met someone who thinks the game how she thinks, the way that she was a pro in doing her weights, her rehab. The way she trained in the offseason when she was towards the end of her career, when she wasn’t going overseas. I just have never seen anything like that.” She said, and now Cunningham sees a rare similarity: “The way that Caitlin thinks of the game, that’s a really close second… They’re always 10 plays ahead of everyone; they’re always on a whole different wavelength.”

It’s a comparison built not just on skill, but on mindset. As Cunningham put it: “But it’s been fun to be a sponge and then talk to Caitlin… just kind of seeing that she’s at the beginning of her professional career, but there are a lot of similarities there.” And history backs her up here. They are both record-setters. Diana Taurasi, to date, remains the only player in league history to score 10,000 points, while Clark, in just her rookie season, set the WNBA record for most assists in a single season.

However, one recent fan comparison between the two sparked a firestorm on X. So let’s take a look at how the internet reacted this time…

Caitlin Clark > Diana Taurasi?

The whole debate kicked off when a fan decided to post his chain of thoughts on X: “I am currently watching Taurasi on Prime & Some of you guys AREN’T going to like this, but Caitlin Clark really is a Diana Taurasi variant! Like dead a–, Diana Taurasi is Caitlin Clark before Caitlin Clark.” Little did he know, CC fans would come charging in to defend their star from being cast as second to anyone. Even if it was just an era-to-era comparison.

One reply cut straight to the point: “Caitlin is a far better rebounder and passer.” To see if that held up, we checked the numbers, and this fan might be right. Taurasi’s career average sits at 3.9 rebounds per game, while Clark currently pulls down 5.5 per game. Even in her rookie year, Taurasi got an average of 4.4, while CC had 5.7. That’s a clear win for CC. The assist stats only make the case stronger. Because Taurasi averaged 4.2 per game over her career and 3.9 in her rookie year, whereas Clark, so far, has maintained a stunning 8.5 per game and 8.4 in 2024.

Sure, stats make for easy comparisons, but one fan took a different route, breaking it down by personality and playing style: “On the court, 10000%. Thought the same thing when I was watching it. WILDLY different in character off the court, though.” And that’s fair. Caitlin Clark’s game is defined by her elite scoring, particularly from deep. She thrives on creating scoring chances, handling the ball with surgical precision, and finding teammates for easy buckets. Diana Taurasi, meanwhile, built her legacy on explosive perimeter shooting with limitless range. She mastered a lightning-quick release and the ability to run an offense as a floor general.

Both elevate everyone around them, and both do it with supreme confidence. So yes, their styles overlap in that manner. However, to many, Clark is even better described as the “love child” of Taurasi and Sue Bird. One fan put it perfectly: “Diana once called Caitlin her and Sue’s lovechild and it was the most accurate description ever given. People just got stuck on the reality instead of embracing it.” And Taurasi herself has backed that up, breaking it down on The Bird and Taurasi Show: “As you can see, she has the passing ability of Suzanne Bird. She has the pull-up, she has long-distance range like middle linebacker Taurasi. And she has the swaggy competitiveness of both of us. This is our love child, born in the internet era.”

If you thought that’s where the comparisons stop, hold up. Because one fan took it even further: “That’s what I always hear from most sports analysts in her college years. She’s a mix of Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird. With a little Candace Parker and the three-point range of Steph Curry. That’s when I think CC is a crazy combination of elite players for them to say that.” You could make that case. Or you could just say Caitlin Clark is her own beast. She is armed with the best skill set the game has ever seen. That’s why some already crown her the GOAT, and why others speculate it’s the very reason Taurasi once seemed to downplay Clark’s impact.

A year before Clark turned pro, Taurasi famously said: “Reality is coming… you look superhuman playing against some 18-year-olds, but you’re going to come play with some grown women that have been playing professional basketball for a long time.” That line sparked a theory from one fan: “That’s why Taurasi tried diminishing CC’s impact coming into the league. She KNEW CC was going to supplant her as the GOAT as soon as she got comfortable in the league.”

But honestly, that feels like a stretch. More likely, Taurasi simply misjudged Clark’s game, and that’s something she even admitted later. During the Bird & Taurasi Show broadcast of the NCAA national championship, after Clark congratulated her on retirement, Diana Taurasi smiled and said: “Thank you… unfortunately, reality is coming to me now.” And truthfully speaking, Taurasi has no reason to be jealous. Her legacy is bulletproof, as one of her own fans summed up perfectly: “Diana walked so Caitlin could run.”

In the end, what’s clear is that both women have built massive, passionate fanbases, and neither is less than the other. If you’ve still got arguments for your favorite, the comments are wide open.