One of the biggest stories in women's basketball last year was Caitlin Clark being dropped from the U.S. Olympic basketball team. Clark was removed from the 12-man women's roster during a rocky start to her rookie season with the Indiana Fever, a decision that immediately became a national controversy.
Critics blamed USA Basketball for keeping her from the team and cited her growing popularity as a reason to include her on the Paris Olympics roster.
Instead of Clark, the roster included veteran guards Jewell Lloyd, Kelsey Plumb, Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray, Diana Taurasi, Sabrina Ionescu and Karlea Copper. Each of those players was a multiple All-Star, and some were multiple Olympians. At 26 years old, Ionescu was the youngest player on the roster.
Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis, via Getty Images
in time interview Along with Sean Gregory, Clark admitted that he was initially disappointed to be left off the USA Basketball roster, but clarified that he rejected the idea that he should have been named to the team because of his popularity. .
When rosters were finalized, the Fever boasted a 3-9 record and Clark had a shaky start to the season, marred by turnover-heavy games and inconsistent shooting performance.
“My play gave them a lot of reasons to keep me off the team,” she said.
She also recognized the depth of talent on the U.S. Basketball roster.
“Everyone was pointing out, 'Who are we going to take off the team?'” Clark said. “And that was a very important point.”
Many media members claimed that leaving Clark off the roster was a mistake for marketing reasons, pointing to the name recognition and attention she would inevitably bring to Paris.
ESPN's Stephen A. Smith and USA Today's Christine Brennan were two of the most vocal in advising USA Basketball not to add Clark to the roster from a name recognition standpoint, but that's because the team didn't want to add Clark to the roster. It's not because they lack the skill set.
The reasons for removing Caitlin Clark from the 2024 U.S. Olympic women's basketball team are very important. I've reported on teams at every Olympic Games since 1984. Each time, I have seen an astonishing lack of coverage and lack of interest. Here are four sections of my February column on this very topic. pic.twitter.com/MjwqeVQdR8
— Christine Brennan (@cbrennasports) June 8, 2024
“Well, you're back with the money. You've taken care of your business.” Stephen A. Smith said of the US women's basketball team. “But when you talk about marketing the sport, I think Team USA missed an opportunity to raise the profile of female excellence in the sport of basketball.”
Clark rejected the idea that she should have been on the roster because of her personal popularity.
“I don't want to be there because I'm someone who can attract attention,” Clark said. “I love the women's basketball game. But at the same time, I want to be there because they think I'm good enough. I don't want to be that little guy who's just sitting there watching.”
In fact, Clark's play during her rookie season ultimately proved that she should have been on the team because of her basketball talent. After the Olympic break, she significantly improved her game and eventually established herself as one of the best guards in the league. of It will be selected as the Grand Prize and finally the All Prize.WNBA first team.
Clark averaged 23.4 points and 8.9 assists after the break, helping the Fever qualify for the WNBA Playoffs for the first time since 2017. She had the most assists in a single WNBA season than anyone in WNBA history.
Jen Rizzotti, head of the United States Basketball Association's selection committee, vehemently disagreed that a player's popularity should have been a consideration.
“It would be irresponsible to talk about her in any way other than how she impacts the team's play,” Rizzotti said. “It wasn't our committee's power to decide how many people were going to watch or how many people were going to cheer for America. It was our role to build the best team we could for Cheryl. ”
Clark's improved post-Olympic play proved she was almost certain will do They were a perfect fit for the roster, especially considering some of Team USA's older players struggled throughout the tournament.
Clark stated that being removed from the roster “will definitely be a motivation for my entire career.”
Barring injury, the WNBA sensation is virtually guaranteed to be on the roster in 2028, which she told Gregory is a “very big goal.”
However, the discussion surrounding her exclusion should never have focused on her popularity or the increase in viewership that her exclusion would bring.
“That whole story upset me,” Clark said. “Because it's unfair. It's disrespectful to the people who were on the team and earned it and were really good. And it's disrespectful to myself.”
