Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- A veteran star opens up about the intense pressure young stars face in the WNBA, drawing from her own journey to the top.
- She shares how internal expectations helped her navigate the weight of external scrutiny and the long road to championship contention.
- Her insights point to a critical season ahead for a rising league face now facing the same demands she once endured.
If there's anyone on the planet who understands the level of pressure Caitlin Clark is dealing with, it's Diana Taurasi. The Phoenix Mercury legend paved the way for the Indiana Fever star, to the point where it's Taurasi's records Clark is most often gunning for.
Like Clark, Taurasi was the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft after an illustrious college basketball career. Like Clark, she entered her third season in the W without a title to her name despite the lofty expectations hovering over her head. As Clark embarks on another season, she could learn something from how Taurasi dealt with the pressure of carrying a franchise on her back.
"I just put tremendous pressure on myself. So anything that came from the outside kind of felt like no big deal," Taurasi told FanSided's Adam Weinrib.
Taurasi said her transition to the WNBA was jarring after winning became almost assumed at UConn. It wasn't just not winning a title immediately. The Mercury missed the playoffs in her first three seasons. It was all part of the journey.
"Everything happens for a reason. It happens at the right time. There's certain lessons you have to go through, the hardships, the hard times, not only for yourself, but as a group and a nucleus of a team that can go on and win a championship," Taurasi said.
That's where Clark finds herself in 2026. She just passed Taurasi as the fastest player to amass 1,000 points, 250 rebounds and 250 assists. It's not like she's behind schedule. But she's also the face of the league and she's going to be judged based on how much she wins as much as how many stats she racks up.
Lucky for Clark, if we're using Taurasi's example as a guideline, she's got plenty of time to deliver. Taurasi and the Mercury went on to make the playoffs in her fourth season. That's when she won the first of three WNBA championships. Clark's challenge will be to keep her body and mind from being crushed by the demands of the W while building up the nucleus of a title contender.
Diana Taurasi's toughest environments
It takes a strong mentality to have the career Taurasi put together. She learned from the best in college with Geno Auriemma and was hardened playing against the most raucous crowds imaginable, like the ones at Tennessee.
"When you have 20,000 people in one arena, all wearing orange, all singing that annoying song, that was one of the toughest environments," Taurasi said.
And that was before she experienced the soccer-like atmospheres overseas in places like Russia and Turkey: "You never knew what was going to get thrown on the court."
Diana Taurasi's toughest matchups
Taurasi also had to overcome some tough 1-on-1 matchups, highlighting former WNBA all-time scoring leader Katie Smith as the matchup that stands out the most along with Tamika Catchings, Alana Beard and DeLisha Milton-Jones.
"These are all people that made life as hard as possible on the offensive end," Taurasi said.
Taurasi, who retired in 2025, has left the pressure of the WNBA behind. And it doesn't sound like she plans to jump back in to take on the unique pressures of being a coach. Would that change if Auriemma invited her to join his coaching staff? That remains to be seen. Taurasi said he's never asked her and that might be a good thing.
"We'd probably get into too much trouble on the sidelines," Taurasi said.
Taurasi spoke to FanSided on behalf of her partnership with Sanofi and Regeneron, the makers of Dupixent, which has helped her manage moderate-to-severe eczema.
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