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WNBA Legends Swoopes, Cooper and Thompson Talk Taurasi and Caitlin Clark

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WNBA Legends Swoopes, Cooper and Thompson Talk Taurasi and Caitlin Clark

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Long before the Phoenix Mercury’s three championships between 2007 and 2014, the Houston Comets were the original WNBA dynasty during the league’s first four years, from 1997 to 2000.

The Comets were led by the Hall of Fame trio of Tina Thompson, Cynthia Cooper and the league’s first superstar, Sheryl Swoopes, before the Comets organization folded in 2008.

The Arizona Republic spoke with Thompson, Cooper and Swoopes during their appearances at the 12th annual Jerry Colangelo Golf Classic in Phoenix on Thursday. They discussed the 1998 Houston-Phoenix WNBA Finals, the Mercury’s Diana Taurasi nearing the end of her stellar 20-year career, super rookies Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, Commissioner Cathy Englebert’s recent controversial quote in a CNBC interview about racially and sexistly abusive comments on social media toward players, and more.

This interview has been condensed for clarity.

Memories of Comets vs. Mercury in 1998 WNBA Finals, Screaming Nuns in Phoenix Crowd

Thompson: “Easy. (laughs) … No, it was competitive. For me, it was a little emotional because my old college coach was Cheryl Miller, so playing against her was a little weird, we were both USC Trojans. Of course, I want her to do well, but at the end of the day, you want your team to win. It was a very competitive series, but I think we beat them 2-0, right? … I remember the nuns, and they were not nice at all. They dressed up in nun uniforms every game, and they were really loud. If they were my fans, you would love them, but to be the opponent, they were the worst.”

Dark: “Light work! (laughs) … I don’t really remember that particular series, but what I do remember is that every time we played Phoenix, it was always a competitive game. It didn’t matter if it was the playoffs or the regular season.”

Taurasi’s Legacy as One of the Greatest Players of All Time

Thompson: “We played together, but Diana Taurasi is one of my favorite players of all time. I think she’s one of the GOATs. Everybody has their own GOAT, but Diana is definitely one of the best women’s basketball players, or just one of the best women’s basketball players of all time. We played together and won championships in Europe and the Olympics (2004, 2008), and she was one of my favorite players to play with.”

Cooper: “Excellent shot.”

Swoopes: “She’s on my Mount Rushmore for sure.

Feelings About Comets’ Demise, Why Houston Rockets Should Honor Swoopes, Cooper, Thompson

Swoopes: “I wasn’t too happy about that. It’s really sad to see a team that was so dominant in the early days of the WNBA win four straight titles, to know that we don’t have a place where we can call home and retire our jerseys. So for me, it’s a little disappointing that Houston doesn’t have a team anymore.

Cooper: “When you start talking about Tina Thompson being a Hall of Famer, Sheryl Swoopes being a Hall of Famer (Swoopes and Thompson yell, “Cynthia Cooper! Hall of Famer!”), there’s no reason they should get to the Hall of Fame before their jerseys are retired. There’s no reason, and that’s the biggest tragedy of all of this, and I would say to the Rockets, let’s do it. Let’s retire those women’s jerseys.”

On WNBA players being attacked online, Englebert’s fallout, Clark liking Taylor Swift’s post favoring Kamala Harris.

Cooper: “I don’t think we had that… I didn’t even have a phone (laughs).”

Dark: “It’s very real today. I see it personally, I live it, and as the commissioner of the league, what was the best response? It’s very disappointing.

Thompson: “Maybe it was, but we didn’t have social media… I think it’s very naive to think that racism doesn’t exist. It’s very evident in the political climate that we’re facing in our country, and the reality is that it does. It was proven a few days ago. Caitlin liked a tweet, and just like that, hundreds of thousands of people turned on her. So to say that racism doesn’t exist is just ignorant, in my opinion. Nobody disputes that Caitlin Clark is an exceptional basketball player. She absolutely is. There’s no conversation within the WNBA or the WNBA that pits Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese against each other. It’s not an issue, and in our opinion, they’re not comparable. For one thing, they don’t play the same position. Their styles of play are not similar at all. They both brought something great to this league, they brought an audience and they brought a personality that hadn’t been there for a very long time. So accept that. “Anyone who’s not a fan of the WNBA or women’s basketball, seriously, shut up! This conversation is not for you.”

Thompson was turned down for the film “Love and Basketball,” which was loosely based on her life story.

“We weren’t actors, but some of my teammates from the USC basketball team were actually in the movie. But the part I applied for was Monica Wright (the lead character). I wasn’t an actress. And then you think about it, there’s going to be actors in there. I’m 6’1” (laughs). I would tower over anybody. (Lead actress Sanaa Lathan) had to learn how to play basketball, and she was incredible, don’t get me wrong. In my neighborhood, my high school boyfriend was also on the basketball team, and we’re both from Los Angeles, we went to the same high school, and we both committed to USC.”

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