Caitlin Clark Had an Epic WNBA Debut After Diana Taurasi Warned 'Reality Is Coming'

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WNBA fans are wondering when "reality" is supposed to set in for Caitlin Clark.

On May 3, the 22-year-old basketball star made her preseason WNBA debut after a record-breaking college career that brought countless new eyes to the sport. In her first pro game for Indiana Fever, Clark scored 21 points with three rebounds, two assists, and two steals. According to USA Today, 15 of those points were from three-pointers like the ones Clark was known for when she played college ball for the University of Iowa.

Though Indiana Fever was ultimately defeated by the Dallas Wings (79-76), Clark said that "you couldn't ask for a better game" to kick off the season. Per ABC News, she continued, "[It was] a tremendous game coming down to the wire, both teams competing. That's going to be the story of the entire year."

All this excitement comes in the wake of WNBA legend Diana Taurasi's controversial warning that "reality is coming" for the college superstars in early April. "There's levels to this thing. And that's just life, we all went through it," the 41-year-old Phoenix Mercury player told SportsCenter's Scott Van Pelt after Iowa defeated UConn (Taurasi's alma mater) in the Final Four. "You see it on the NBA side, and you're going to see it on this side. You look superhuman playing against 18-year-olds, but you're going to come with some grown women that have been playing professional basketball for a long time."

She continued, "Not saying that it's not going to translate, because when you're great at what you do, you're just going to get better. But there is going to be a transition period, where you're just going to have to give yourself grace as a rookie, and it might take a little bit longer for some people."