The 2024 WNBA Draft is fast approaching, with Caitlin Clark expected to be the top pick. However, some current WNBA players, including Diana Taurasi and Breanna Stewart, have cast some doubt on Clark’s potential.

While Clark is preparing for her move to Indianapolis as the presumed first pick by the Indiana Fever, she’s facing criticism from some quarters of the league. Notably, Taurasi, a WNBA legend with numerous accolades to her name, seems to be among those expressing skepticism about Clark’s readiness for the professional stage.

“Reality is coming,” Taurasi told ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt about Clark’s success in college. “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.”

Really? A three-time NCAA Division I National Champion discredited competing against other college-age women?

It felt like a truly odd, disrespectful moment from Taurasi.

Despite this criticism, Clark’s collegiate career has drawn immense attention, culminating in record-breaking viewership for the Women’s Championship game. With a staggering 18.87 million viewers tuning in, the game between Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes and South Carolina set a new record for American women’s basketball.

Taurasi’s team, the Phoenix Mercury, has seized upon this narrative, promoting their upcoming matchup against Indiana as a showdown between “The GOAT vs. The Rook.” It’s clear that Clark’s entry into the WNBA has sparked both excitement and skepticism within the league.

There’s no “walking it back” now.

Make no mistake: The Mercury are doing that because more people in 2024 will want to watch “The ROOK” than “The GOAT.”

Breanna Stewart, who had the good fortune of playing for Geno Auriemma and UConn at the height of the program’s success and won four NCAA titles, hit out at Clark’s lack of National Championships.

“You are going to look 10 years back and you are going to see all the records that she has broken, points and stuff like that, but anybody knows your goal when you play college basketball is to win a national championship,” Stewart said. “So you need one.”

Both Diana Taurasi and Breanna Stewart share Olympic gold medals, having won two together for Team USA in 2016 and 2020, although Taurasi boasts a few more.

Additionally, Taurasi and Stewart have something else in common with Caitlin Clark: They were all selected as the No. 1 pick in their respective WNBA Drafts.

Their transitions to the professional league were also marked by immediate success. Taurasi earned All-WNBA First-Team honors in her rookie season, while both Taurasi and Stewart became All-Stars in their second seasons. By their fourth seasons, they each had secured a WNBA Championship.

Given their ability to seamlessly transition from college success to WNBA stardom, it’s surprising that they would express any doubts about Clark’s potential, especially on the eve of her National Championship Game and days before the WNBA Draft.

While it’s natural for players to aim for National Championships and acknowledge the differences between college and professional play, it’s perplexing that Taurasi and Stewart chose to throw shade at Clark during what should be a momentous week for her.

Personally, I find debates about “The GOAT” to be unproductive. Different eras, teams, and circumstances make comparisons difficult. I appreciate Dawn Staley’s perspective: Clark is “A GOAT” in her own right.

Undoubtedly, Clark’s talent speaks for itself, just as Taurasi’s and Stewart’s do. However, their decision to cast doubt on Clark’s abilities does little to bolster their own legacies.