Mercury star Diana Taurasi, at 40 years old, remains one of the faces of the WNBA, which has been rapidly growing in popularity over the last couple of seasons.
The growing popularity is obviously great for the sport, and there’s no denying that Taurasi has been at the forefront of bringing attention to professional women’s basketball in the United States.
Taurasi was asked on Thursday about the tendency for WNBA broadcasters to compare women’s basketball players to prominent stars in the NBA. Her answer, via The Athletic‘s Richard Deitsch, was interesting.
“I’m confused about that,” Taurasi began. “I think we have established a league of amazing players not only [currently] in the WNBA, but going way back before that. It’s funny. I hear on broadcasts whenever I do watch a WNBA or college game, ‘Hey, Caitlin Clark is like Stephen Curry.’ Well why can’t she be like Katie Smith, you know? ‘Angel Reese? Boy, she rebounds like Dennis Rodman.’ Well why can’t she be like Rebekkah Brunson. I think that’s just a lack of education and research, really.”
Taurasi certainly has a fair point. As the WNBA continues to gain popularity and new fans pour in, perhaps more comparisons within the game will be made as fans and media alike have more of an understanding of the stars and role players within the game.
