Phoenix Mercury veteran Diana Taurasi admitted she underestimated Caitlin Clark when she tipped the Indiana Fever star for a difficult debut WNBA season.

In the summer, Taurasi, 42, believed the University of Iowa college basketball star would find life difficult in her first campaign. She delighted in triggering Clark’s humongous fanbase with her blunt opinions and predictions for the point guard.

But after Clark recorded a rookie record of 769 points in her debut season for Fever, even Taurasi admits she has had to U-turn on her previous opinions. Not only has she admired the 22-year-old’s quality, she has paid even more attention to her mental capabilities on the court.

After Clark played a starring role in Fever’s 88-82 victory over Mercury, Taurasi had nothing but admiring words. She said: “It’s amazing what Caitlin’s been able to do in her short career. So far, just been nothing short of remarkable.”

She added: “The one thing that I really love about her, she loves the game. You can tell she’s put the work in.

“And even throughout her short WNBA career, it’s been a lot of pressure, a lot of things thrown at her, and she keeps showing up and keeps getting better every single game.”

Her tone was completely different before the match. Taurasi compared Clark’s step-up from college basketball to the WNBA as a first-grade child moving up from Kindergarten.

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In an interview with SportsCenter, she said: “Reality is coming, there’s levels to this thing. And that’s just life, we all went through it… 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.

“Not saying it’s not gonna translate, because when you’re great at what you do, you’re just gonna get better. But there is gonna be a transition period, where you’re gonna have to give yourself some grace as a rookie.

“It’s kind of like when you go [from] kindergarten to first grade, there’s a learning adjustment. When you go from high school to college, there’s a learning adjustment.

“I don’t think I said anything that’s factually incorrect. Like anything, greatness is going to translate. And she’s proven that at every level. I don’t see why that’s going to be any different in the WNBA.”

Clark will soon find out if her greatness in basketball can also translate into golf. She is going to compete in the Pro-Am at The Annika driven by Gainbridge event, where she’ll be competing with World No.1 LPGA golfer Nelly Korda.