Caitlin Clark will not play for Team USA at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. According to multiple reports, she was left off of the roster.
Naturally, the decision sparked a lot of conversation!
On one end, Clark has not earned her way onto the national team roster during the early portion of her rookie season in the WNBA. The No. 1 overall pick has had flashes of greatness and moments in which she has really struggled. It isn’t like Clark won’t have plenty of other opportunities to compete for her country at the Olympics. She is only 22 years old.
If the United States’ selection committee was to come out and say that Clark simply isn’t good enough in this current moment to be the second rookie to ever make the Olympic roster, it would be entirely fair.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t sound like what is going on behind the scenes. Team USA head coach Cheryl Reeve made her thoughts on all of the hype surrounding Caitlin Clark very clear during a pretty public and petty beef at the start of the WNBA season. Her poor attitude, and the poor attitude of many veteran players, seems to be part of the reason for the snub.
In addition, Team USA apparently didn’t want fans to be frustrated by Clark’s lack of playing time if she was included on the roster. There was reportedly internal panic about the reaction it might cause.
Should that be true, it is pathetic. That is the worst possible reason for the decision. It would be so much better if the U.S. came out and said straight-up that omission is based entirely on results and talent.
Lisa Leslie would agree!
The WNBA legend firmly believes that Clark should be on the team. Leslie is a two-time champion, three-time MVP, eight-time All-Star, two-time Defensive Player of the Year, and eight-time First-Team All-WNBA player. She is one of the greatest to ever do it. She also won four gold medals.
In Leslie’s opinion, which is one of the most knowledgable in terms of first-hand experience, Caitlin Clark should join the team France this summer. The 51-year-old Hall of Famer made that clear back in April.
I don’t know how you leave the country without her.
— Lisa Leslie
Leslie said that Clark should “one hundred,” rather, “one thousand percent” be on the roster. She doesn’t think it matters that the greatest scorer in college basketball history wasn’t at Team USA training camp.
Those are the parts of the politics that I hope we get past because there is no reason – when you see an American player is the most outstanding player in our country — how is she not having the opportunity to represent our country?
— Lisa Leslie
Despite Leslie’s hope, Team USA did not get past the politics. Clark did not make the roster, from what it sounds like, entirely because of behind-the-scenes politics. It wasn’t necessarily a talent-based decision. It was an optics-based decision. That is what makes it such a bummer!
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