{"id":2325363,"date":"2024-08-15T20:34:59","date_gmt":"2024-08-16T00:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/already-starting-phoenix-wnba-team-takes-apparent-jab-at-caitlin-clark-after-diana-taurasi-drama\/"},"modified":"2024-08-15T20:38:05","modified_gmt":"2024-08-16T00:38:05","slug":"already-starting-phoenix-wnba-team-takes-apparent-jab-at-caitlin-clark-after-diana-taurasi-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/already-starting-phoenix-wnba-team-takes-apparent-jab-at-caitlin-clark-after-diana-taurasi-drama\/","title":{"rendered":"Already Starting? Phoenix WNBA Team Takes Apparent Jab at Caitlin Clark After Diana Taurasi Drama"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Falready-starting-phoenix-wnba-team-takes-apparent-jab-at-caitlin-clark-after-diana-taurasi-drama%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2325363&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article\u2064 discusses the burgeoning rivalry and tension between NBA \u200cstar Caitlin Clark, a rookie with the\u2063 Indiana\u200d Fever, \u200cand established player Diana Taurasi of the Phoenix Mercury. Despite Clark&#8217;s recent success and popularity following her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/winners-announced-in-10th-ntd-international-classical-chinese-dance-competition\/\" title=\"Winners revealed in 10th NTD Classical Chinese Dance Contest.\">gold \u2063medal win<\/a> with the U.S. women&#8217;s basketball team, Taurasi criticized her, implying that Clark needs to be &#8220;humbled&#8221; as she transitions from college to\u2063 professional basketball. This animosity intensified when Taurasi made the Olympic team over\u200d Clark, which many viewed as an unjust decision rooted in Taurasi&#8217;s status rather than performance. The Mercury&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/maricopa-county-is-still-counting-votes-but-they-had-time-to-lash-out-at-disinformation-super-spreaders\/\" title=\"Maricopa County Is Still Counting Votes, But They Had Time To Lash Out At \u2018Disinformation Super Spreaders\u2019\">social media response<\/a>, which showcased their loyalty to Taurasi while dismissing Clark, further ignited the discussion. Fans have expressed \u2064their support for Clark, some even stating they would lose interest in women&#8217;s basketball without her presence. The rivalry is set to play out soon as the Fever \u2064and Mercury are scheduled to face\u2062 each other on the court.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section>\n<p>Well, that didn&rsquo;t take long.<\/p>\n<p>Less than a week after the U.S. women&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/united-states-wins-most-total-medals-at-tokyo-olympics-beats-out-china-for-most-gold-medals\/\" title=\"United States Wins Most Total Medals At Tokyo Olympics, Beats Out China For Most Gold Medals\">basketball team won<\/a> the gold medal during a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/six-christians-arrested-paris-objecting-olympics-opening-ceremony\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">highly contentious<\/a> Paris Olympics &hellip; it appears the women&rsquo;s basketball world is back to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/caitlin-clark-drops-classy-response-serena-williams-white-people-joke-causes-major-backlash\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hating on<\/a> Indiana Fever rookie sensation Caitlin Clark.<\/p>\n<p>While fans have flocked to Clark (almost <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/caitlin-clark-vs-angel-reese-wnba-rematch-sets-eye-popping-record-even-tips-off\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">quite literally<\/a>) for a variety of reasons, the same cannot be said of many of her peers, who seem to show a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wnba-player-loses-says-caitlin-clarks-name-used-racism-bigotry-deranged-rant\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">tinge of jealousy<\/a> of Clark&rsquo;s supernova stardom.<\/p>\n<p>One of her chief critics coming into the year?<\/p>\n<p>Longtime Phoenix Mercury standout Diana Taurasi.<\/p>\n<p>  <script> \t\t\t\tif( ! getCookie( 'ff_subbed' ) ) if( typeof FFADS.replace_ict !='undefined' ) if( FFADS.replace_ict ) eval( FFADS.replace_ict ); \t\t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Things got off to a frosty start between Taurasi and Clark when the former told the latter that &ldquo;reality is coming&rdquo; for her.<\/p>\n<p>The not-so-subtle meaning behind that jab is that Taurasi thinks Clark needs to and should be &ldquo;humbled&rdquo; in the jump from college hoops to professional basketball.<\/p>\n<p>(Clark has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/watch-caitlin-clark-adds-fire-race-angel-reese-breaks-wnba-record-historic-fashion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">largely thrived<\/a>, for what it&rsquo;s worth.)<\/p>\n<p>Whatever testiness that may have already existed between the two was only exacerbated when Taurasi made the women&rsquo;s Olympic team over Clark.<\/p>\n<p>Many lambasted the move as something of a &ldquo;lifetime achievement&rdquo; award for Taurasi, and not based on merit.<\/p>\n<p>To their point, statistically speaking at least, Clark has largely outplayed Taurasi this year.<\/p>\n<p>Making the roster decision even more baffling was that Clark &mdash; again, whose popularity simply can&rsquo;t be overstated &mdash; didn&rsquo;t make the U.S. women&rsquo;s team at all.<\/p>\n<p>Many of Clark&rsquo;s most ardent supporters took to social media to collectively cross their arms and say that they&rsquo;re not terribly interested in watching women&rsquo;s basketball if the Fever rookie isn&rsquo;t playing.<\/p>\n<p>The Mercury clearly heard all that chatter (and are surely aware no love is lost between Taurasi and Clark) and decided to take an odd shot at both Clark and her fans in a TikTok video.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" style=\"max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px;\" cite=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@phoenixmercury\/video\/7403104036846603551\" data-video-id=\"7403104036846603551\">\n<section><a title=\"@phoenixmercury\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@phoenixmercury?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@phoenixmercury<\/a> we&rsquo;ll take our six<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-china-keeping-winter-olympians-in-unreasonable-quarantine-conditions\/\" title=\"Report: China Keeping Winter Olympians in \u2018Unreasonable\u2019 Quarantine Conditions\u00a0\">-time gold medalist<\/a> any day of the week, thank you <a title=\"wnba\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/wnba?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#WNBA<\/a> <a title=\"dianataurasi\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/dianataurasi?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#DianaTaurasi<\/a> <a title=\"basketball\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/basketball?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#Basketball<\/a> <a title=\"phoenixmercury\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/phoenixmercury?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#PhoenixMercury<\/a> (Inspo&#128241;: @HoopScoop <a title=\"&#9836; original sound - Phoenix Mercury\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/music\/original-sound-7403104042064956191?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">&#9836; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-unites-with-jake-paul-to-tease-another-knockout-in-tiktok-video-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Trump unites with Jake Paul to tease \u2018another knockout\u2019 in TikTok video - Washington Examiner\">original sound &#038;ndash<\/a>; Phoenix Mercury<\/a><\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I miss the WNBA,&rdquo; a fan was seen saying. &ldquo;Caitlin, where are you?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The video then immediately cut to a young Mercury fan who said, &ldquo;Who&rsquo;s Caitlin? I&rsquo;m here for Taurasi.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The young fan was holding a sign with identical verbiage.<\/p>\n<p>The TikTok jab then cut to a short highlight reel of Taurasi.<\/p>\n<p>And just in case there was any doubt about the purpose of the video, the caption to the video threw in one last jab.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll take our six-time gold medalist any day of the week, thank you,&rdquo; the video&rsquo;s caption read.<\/p>\n<p>The Fever, which won their last couple of games against the Mercury, won&rsquo;t have to wait very long to stick up for Clark.<\/p>\n<p>The Mercury were scheduled to travel to Indiana to face the Fever on Friday. The WNBA season writ large resumes today.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\">  <\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> <label>* Name<\/label> <br \/> <input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> <\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> <label>* <\/label> <br \/> <input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> <\/div>\n<p> <label>* Message<\/label> <br \/> <textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea>  <\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> <input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\">  <\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script>  <\/div>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\">  <\/div>\n<style> \t\t\t \t\t\t.insticator-unit.type-commenting{margin: 0 10px 25px 10px}@media screen and (max-width:1060px){#div-insticator-ad-cmt-1, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-2, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-3, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-4{margin: 0 auto 25px auto !important;}}#div-insticator-ad-cmt-1, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-2, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-3, #div-insticator-ad-cmt-4{height: 280px !important; width: 336px !important} \t\t<\/style>\n<div class=\"insticator-unit type-commenting\">\n<div class=\"insticator-ads\">   <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\t\t\tif ( ! getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tInsticator.ad.loadAd(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-1\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tInsticator.ad.loadAd(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-2\"); \t\t\t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-1\").remove() \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-2\").remove() \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t<\/script> <\/div>\n<div class=\"insticator-ads additional\">   <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\t\t\tif ( ! getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tInsticator.ad.loadAd(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-3\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tInsticator.ad.loadAd(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-4\"); \t\t\t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-3\").remove() \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"div-insticator-ad-cmt-4\").remove() \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t<\/script> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section><a title=\"@phoenixmercury\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@phoenixmercury?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@phoenixmercury<\/a> we&rsquo;ll take our six-time gold medalist any day of the week, thank you <a title=\"wnba\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/wnba?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#WNBA<\/a> <a title=\"dianataurasi\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/dianataurasi?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#DianaTaurasi<\/a> <a title=\"basketball\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/basketball?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#Basketball<\/a> <a title=\"phoenixmercury\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/phoenixmercury?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#PhoenixMercury<\/a> (Inspo&#128241;: @HoopScoop <a title=\"&#9836; original sound - Phoenix Mercury\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/music\/original-sound-7403104042064956191?refer=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">&#9836; original sound &ndash; Phoenix Mercury<\/a><\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It didn&#8217;t take long for the drama to resurface. Just under a week after the U.S. women&#8217;s basketball team secured a gold medal at the contentious Paris Olympics, it seems that Caitlin Clark, the rookie star of the Indiana Fever, is once again facing criticism from some in the women&#8217;s basketball community. Although many fans have rallied around Clark for various reasons, several of her fellow players appear to harbor jealousy towards her meteoric rise to fame. One prominent critic has been Diana Taurasi, a veteran player with the Phoenix Mercury.<\/p>\n<p>Tensions between Taurasi and Clark began when Taurasi warned Clark that &#8220;reality is coming&#8221; for her, implying that she believes Clark needs to be &#8220;humbled&#8221; as she transitions from college basketball to the professional level\u2014despite Clark&#8217;s impressive performance thus far. The situation became even more strained when Taurasi made it onto the Olympic team while Clark did not; many viewed this selection as more of a lifetime achievement award rather than one based on current performance statistics\u2014wherein Clark has outperformed Taurasi this season.<\/p>\n<p>Clark&#8217;s supporters expressed their discontent on social media, stating they would lose interest in watching women&#8217;s basketball if she wasn&#8217;t playing. The Mercury seemed to respond to this sentiment with a TikTok video that took subtle jabs at both Clark and her fans. In it, one fan lamented missing WNBA games without Caitlin present while another young fan declared their loyalty solely to Taurasi.<\/p>\n<p>The video concluded with an unmistakable message: \u201cWe\u2019ll take our six-time gold medalist any day of the week.\u201d As fate would have it, just days later, these two teams are set to face off again in Indiana after recent victories by the Fever over Mercury<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2325364,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Clark-and-Taurasi.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[38285,32078,32077,38284,35638],"class_list":["post-2325363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-basketball-drama","tag-caitlin-clark","tag-diana-taurasi","tag-phoenix-wnba","tag-womens-sports"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Clark-and-Taurasi.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2325363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2325363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2325363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2325364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2325363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2325363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2325363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}