The prospect of Caitlin Clark being omitted from the U.S. women’s basketball team for the Summer Olympics is a “missed opportunity,” Outkick’sDon’t @ me” he said Sunday.
“There should have been more attention paid to women’s basketball, so that we could have looked back on the season and finished stronger. But right now, it’s just business as usual. Nobody’s paying attention. It’s a missed opportunity. It’s a really stupid missed opportunity,” he told co-host Will Cain on “Fox & Friends Weekend.”
His comments came on the heels of a report by The Athletic that the Indiana Fever star would be left out of the final roster for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
She was named to the 14-man national team for training camp in Cleveland, Ohio, in early April, but was unable to attend USA Basketball’s training camp due to her focus on playing for the Iowa Hokies in the NCAA Tournament.
Tennessean op-ed likens Caitlin Clark’s popularity to Elvis Presley because of their “whiteness”
Indiana Fever player Caitlin Clark (number 22) throws the ball during the third quarter of a game against the New York Liberty at Barclays Center on June 2, 2024 in Brooklyn, New York. (Luke Hales/Getty Images)
However, the United States Basketball Association has yet to officially release the roster for this year’s Olympic team.
WNBA star Kaitlyn Clark likely to be left out of Team US Olympic squad: reports
meanwhile Some reports have speculated While the decision stemmed from Clarke’s rookie status, other players, like Dakić, are unsure of the significance of the move to remove her from the roster.
“There’s no basketball player in the world right now, I would say the world, that’s getting more attention than Caitlin Clark,” he said.
“Honestly, most people didn’t even know there was women’s basketball in the Summer Olympics. Now I have the opportunity to do it and I’m not going to let it go.”
The Paris 2024 Olympic flag flies over the south facade of the Palais Bourbon in Paris, France, on June 4, 2024. United States Women’s Basketball (Riccardo Milani/Hans Lukas/AFP via Getty Images)
Clark is credited with bringing attention to the WNBA after the league struggled for years in the ratings.
The Washington Mystics, for example, played Clark’s team on Friday before 20,333 fans at Capital One Arena, the largest attendance for a WNBA game since 2007, according to The Associated Press, citing Across the Timeline data.
“All I’ve heard for years is, ‘Grow the sport, pay attention to us, love us,’ and now you have a real opportunity,” Dakich added.
The decision drew criticism from others.
Caitlin Clark reportedly left off Olympic team in part due to potential backlash over playing time
Former U.S. men’s soccer star Alexis Lalas recently He told Fox News Digital Regarding Clark, one woman commented, “I don’t know enough about US Women’s Olympic Basketball to know if the exclusion of Kaitlyn Clark is taken lightly, but at this point she’s the only reason I care at all about US Women’s Olympic Basketball.”
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“Removing Caitlin Clark from the women’s Olympic team is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy wrote in a Twitter post.
OutKick contributor andGaines for girls“Kaitlyn Clark should be on the U.S. Women’s Olympic Basketball Team. That’s it. Here’s the tweet,” wrote former NCAA swimmer and show host Riley Gaines.
Fox News Digital’s Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report.
