Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark, who has electrified the college basketball world with her stellar play and more than doubled viewership and attendance at WNBA games, will reportedly not be among the 12 players selected for the U.S. Women’s Olympic Basketball Team.
according to USA Today According to Christine Brennan and The Athletic, the final roster will consist of Kaalia Copper, Chelsea Gray, A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner, Alyssa Thomas, Napheesa Collier, Jewel Lloyd Kelsey Plumb, Jackie Young and Sabrina Ionescu.
The U.S. women’s basketball team’s Olympic roster has been announced.@Shams Charania and Joe Vardon 🇺🇸
Aja Wilson
Breanna Stewart
Diana Taurasi
Alyssa Thomas
Brittney Griner
Napheesa Collier
Jewel Lloyd
Kelsey Plum
Jackie Young
Kalea Copper
Sabrina Ionescu
Chelsea Gray pic.twitter.com/222FOOhAAh— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 8, 2024
The process to determine the final roster will include input from several sources, including Team USA head coaches Cheryl Reeve, Dawn Staley, Seymourne Augustus and DeLisha Milton-Jones, as well as Connecticut Sun president and WNBA chief executive officer Jennifer Rizzotti and Bethany Donafin.
It’s a shock to many that Caitlin Clark’s name was removed from the roster. Clark was one of 14 players invited to Team USA’s final training camp, but she was unable to attend because her college team, Iowa, was in the Final Four.
The final roster for the women’s team is dominated by veterans, with only three players making their Olympic debut. Many will be keeping an eye on players not named to the roster, such as Caitlin Clark. It’s very much up for debate whether she’s a better guard than Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart or Sabrina Ionescu at this point in her career.
Indiana Fever player Caitlin Clark (number 22) makes a three-point shot during a game against the New York Liberty in the 2024 Commissioner’s Cup game in Brooklyn, New York on June 2, 2024. (Evan Yu/NBAE via Getty Images)
Sure, Clark would have drawn a lot of viewers, but basketball teams aren’t (or shouldn’t be) built on drawing eyes to the screen. They should be built on winning Olympic gold medals, and the U.S. team has won gold in nine of the last 12, including seven in a row since 1996.
Clarke will likely be selected for the Olympic team multiple times in her career, but she’s not at that stage yet.
