Now that the 2024 Paris Games are over and Team USA routed France 67-66 to win the gold, it’s only natural for fans to look ahead to the 2028 Olympics. This is mere speculation since the Los Angeles games are four years away, but WNBA phenom Caitlin Clark will be on the roster after being snubbed from the USA basketball roster this year.
When Clark wasn’t selected for the 2024 Team USA basketball roster, opposing opinions quickly emerged. It felt as if almost everybody had an opinion on whether the Indiana Fever player should’ve made the cut. From statistics to experimental rosters, everyone argued, either against or for, Clark competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Several fans felt she was cheated of her rightful spot on the Olympic team. Clark’s arrival to the WNBA sparked a resurgence in attendance. Opponents the Indiana Fever faced throughout her rookie season moved to different arenas in order to accommodate the unprecedented influx of fans. It was evident that Clark was transforming the game of women’s basketball.
Besides attendance, the No. 1 pick in the draft was also breaking league records in her rookie season. Clark scored or assisted on 66 points for Indiana, making the performance the most in a game in WNBA history.
Fans felt like her presence at the Paris Games would undoubtedly smash previous ratings.
But others felt she didn’t quite have the resume to join a legendary lineup. Team USA featured the best of the WNBA including A’ja Wilson, Brittney Griner, Sabrina Ionescu, and Kelsey Plum.
Several people felt that Clark didn’t meet the selection criteria determined by the Player Selection Committee. Clark had never faced the best international players, only college players while she was at Iowa. Her lack of experience was ultimately what caused her absence from the roster.
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Due to the controversy of Clark’s omission, Team USA was forced to defend their decision. Dawn Staley stated Clark played at higher caliber toward the latter half of the season when the selection process had already finished.
“As a committee member, you’re charged with putting together the best team of players, the best talent,” Staley told NBC. “Caitlin is just a rookie in the WNBA, wasn’t playing bad, but wasn’t playing like she’s playing now. If we had to do it all over again, the way that she’s playing, she would be in really high consideration of making the team because she is playing head and shoulders above a lot of people.
The media naturally asked Clark for her own opinion following the release of the Team USA selection.
“Hopefully one day I can be there,” she told reporters after a practice in June. “I think it’s just a little more motivation. You remember that. Hopefully when four years comes back around, I can be there.”
Well, Clark will certainly make the 2028 Olympic roster if her career pans out as fans expect it to.
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