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Diana Taurasi Urges Patience With Caitlin Clark, WNBA Rookie Class

Caitlin Clarke, Diana Taurasi and Angel Reese Getty Images (3)

Celebrating her historic 20th season in the WNBA, Diana Taurasi The league is busy looking for the next generation of superstars.

Taurasi, 42 — Who spoke our weekly to discuss its partnership with eczema drug Dupixent — Some of the initial criticism directed at this year’s WNBA rookie class has been pushed back, including Caitlin ClarkeArguably disappointing starts to their respective seasons.

“Nobody can escape the transition period,” Taurasi said. “It’s something we all have to go through. Sometimes you find your way out of it in your first year, sometimes you take two years, sometimes you take three years. Sometimes it takes you two years to go abroad and hone your skills and get a lot of confidence in what you can do.”

“Everybody has a different journey and a different path. Sometimes you have to give these kids some leeway. They have a long career. They’re a month into their WNBA careers. They’re going to get better. They’re going to get more comfortable with everything around them,” Taurasi said.

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Diana Taurasi urges patience with Caitlin Clark WNBA rookie class

Angel Reese Cooper Neill/Getty Images

“There has to be a middle ground,” Taurasi urged.

Taurasi further argued that a lot of venom being thrown in Clark’s direction, Angel Reese, Cameron Brink And the information on other first-year players comes from male reporters who are just starting to learn about women’s basketball.

“You have to be educated on this topic. You have to be informed. You have to know the history of the game,” Taurasi said. “Most of the time, men are at the forefront of the media. They know the history of the NBA. They can tell you who the Cy Young winner was in 1943. They can tell you who won the Kentucky Derby in 1944. But can you tell me who the first WNBA champion was?”

Diana Taurasi urges patience with Caitlin Clark WNBA rookie class

Caitlin Clarke Harry How/Getty Images

She added, “I think that’s where we’re lacking respect for women’s sports. Suddenly everybody’s eyes are on them and everybody has an opinion. A lot of them, in many ways, aren’t educated enough to form those opinions.”

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On the personal side of things, Taurasi is opening up for the first time about her battle with moderate to severe eczema.

After that started taking Dupixent As for treatment options, Taurasi partnered with Sanofi and Regeneron to raise awareness about the everyday challenges of dealing with the skin condition — and how keeping it under control makes her feel even more confident on the court.

“I don’t know how many times in my day-to-day life I had to worry about, ‘Where are my creams? What’s the weather going to be like?'” Taurasi recalled. “These things, you take for granted that they’re on your mind all the time.”

“Now I can say that my skin is clear and this helps me on a daily basis,” she said.

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