The social media team for the Phoenix Mercury opted to tease Caitlin Clark over her Olympic snub with a subtle shot as she and her Indiana Fever will take on Diana Taurasi and her squad on Friday.
Clark was famously slighted by Team USA for the Paris Olympic Games. It appeared to be in favor of Taurasi, who was seemingly granted a lifetime achievement award by competing in her sixth Olympics at age 42.
Taurasi did win her sixth gold medal, meaning she now has the most gold medals in Olympic basketball history. But she didn’t earn it by any stretch. We’ll get to that in a minute.
The Mercury posted a TikTok video over the weekend with a fan sitting on the couch saying, “I miss the WNBA. Caitlin, where are you?”
“Who’s Caitlin? I’m here for Taurasi,” a young fan in Phoenix gear says while holding a sign with the same message.
The video is captioned with an obvious jab at Clark for having not participated in the Olympics: “We’ll take our six-time gold medalist any day of the week, thank you.”
@phoenixmercury we’ll take our six-time gold medalist any day of the week, thank you #WNBA #DianaTaurasi #Basketball #PhoenixMercury (Inspo📱: @HoopScoop ♬ original sound – Phoenix Mercury
RELATED: Stats from Team USA’s Olympic Games Prove Caitlin Clark Should Have Made The Team
Diana Taurasi On Olympic Team Over Caitlin Clark
If you were ‘here for’ Diana Taurasi at the Olympic gold medal game, you would have been sorely disappointed. She and Caitlin Clark had the same exact stat line against France in that game.
Zeroes across the board.
That’s because Taurasi was benched during that game. The U.S. women’s basketball team squeaked by France, 67-66, and she didn’t get a minute of playing time to contribute to the cause.
In fact, as noted previously here at Bounding Into Sports, her performance in the 2024 Games was downright atrocious.
In over 55 minutes of play across six games, Taurasi contributed 5 points and 4 rebounds, shooting just 17% from the floor.
We’re pretty confident Clark would have contributed more than that to the team. Maybe the gold medal game wouldn’t have been as close if the team had gone with the more deserving player.
Clark Leads The Career Series
If Taurasi was feeling sheepish about getting a gold medal while riding the pine, she certainly didn’t show it. She was asked by reporters what it felt like to win her sixth gold, surpassing former American teammate Sue Bird.
“Yeah, it’s the only reason I came,” Taurasi said. “It’s funny cause we scored the same amount of points today.”
Good joke. But it’s a joke that Diana Taurasi was selected over Caitlin Clark in the first place.
Heading into Friday’s matchup between the Mercury and the Fever, Clark can still lay claim to leading the career series against her rival. Of course, it’s not a very extensive history the two have shared.
Clark nearly scored a triple-double as she led her squad to a win over Taurasi’s club, 88-82, back in June. It’s the only time the two have actually met on the court in the WNBA.
Indiana would win again two weeks later, but Taurasi did not play due to an injury.
Taurasi famously kicked off the controversy before the season started, declaring that Clark would be in for a rude awakening once she joined the WNBA.
“Reality is coming,” she warned.
The reality is that Caitlin, not Diana, should have been chomping down on that gold medal in Paris.
More about:WNBA
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