Team USA’s Olympic men’s basketball team roster was finalized a month ago. Team USA has fielded another dream team for the Paris Olympics: LeBron James, Steph Curry, Anthony Edwards, Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid and Anthony Davis, among others. For many of those guys, it will be their first time playing on the Olympic team (it’s LeBron’s fourth time at the Olympics, fwiw). It looks like a lot of pro players are very interested in going to Paris for the Olympics this year. Well, the roster for the women’s basketball team is still being finalized, and the roster is causing a lot of controversy.
Rather suddenly, people have a lot of interest in the WNBA, mostly because of the personalities of this year’s rookies and the gangbusters popularity of women’s college basketball. We’ve talked about Caitlin Clark before – she played for Iowa, and when she graduated this year, she turned pro and she now plays for the Indiana Fever. This is her rookie year. She’s 22 years old. Well, she wasn’t chosen for the Olympic team and people are MAD. Caitlin has really become the “great white hope” for casual women’s basketball fans and the sports commentary class is really upset that Team USA would miss the chance to put Clark on the Olympic team.
Indiana Fever rookie sensation Caitlin Clark is expected to be left off the 12-player Team USA women’s basketball roster for the upcoming Summer Olympics, according to sources briefed on the decision.
The roster indicates a preference for veterans with the selection of A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner, Alyssa Thomas, Napheesa Collier, Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young, Sabrina Ionescu, Chelsea Gray and Kahleah Copper, those sources said. The U.S. women have won gold at every Olympics since 1996, and this distinguished roster of All-Stars appears positioned to be a favorite in Paris.
Seven of the 12 players have Olympic five-on-five experience and two more have 3×3 experience, so there will be only three first-time Olympians — Thomas, Copper and Ionescu. Selected players began receiving their Team USA Olympics jerseys recently.
Clark, Brionna Jones and Aliyah Boston would likely be alternates if one of the 12 cannot play, sources said. Boston, Clark’s Fever teammate and last year’s WNBA Rookie of the Year, is another young talent notably left off the roster.
Follow-up reporting from USA Today indicates that Clark won’t even be considered as an alternate, mostly because Team USA doesn’t want to invite any backlash about how they’re keeping Caitlin on the bench. Which I get – this is about team dynamics and the strength of the team overall. I don’t know much about Caitlin Clark, but from what I can tell, she’s not popular within the WNBA and they seem to be hazing her. Still, I actually think that the argument of “Clark will help grow the sport” is accurate. While people are arguing that Clark will bring more fans to women’s basketball, I would argue that Clark has the potential to be something else: the villain, the woman everyone roots against. Which still brings people to the sport, because they’re hate-watching the villain.
Honest question: Is she really growing the game if her fans ONLY watch a bad Fever team and disrespect every other player (even her own teammates) and team in the W? 🤷🏻♂️ https://t.co/a5IAeLmeuv
— Dennis Glade (@Dennis_Glade) June 9, 2024
Caitlin Clark texted Fever HC Christie Sides this after finding out she didn't make the Olympic team 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/2ctWOTc1uP
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 9, 2024
Thanks, David. Having covered the Olympics for 40 years (gulp), I’ve seen some bad team and athlete selection decisions. This is the worst. Makes absolutely no sense for a women’s sport that would have been catapulted onto the world stage in the greatest way possible with Clark. https://t.co/hZMwUFE9PS
— Christine Brennan (@cbrennansports) June 8, 2024
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- Caitlyn Clark 22 dribbles the ball during the game between the Indiana Fever and the Los Angeles Sparks on May 24, 2024 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California Caitlyn Clark 22 dribbles the ball during the game between the Indiana Fever and the Los Angeles Sparks on May 24, 2024 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California Copyright: xRupertxEnglishxforxImagexofxSporx,Image: 876480536, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/Rupert English for Image of Spor / Avalon
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- Caitlyn Clark 22 during the game between the Indiana Fever and the Los Angeles Sparks on May 24, 2024 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California Caitlyn Clark 22 during the game between the Indiana Fever and the Los Angeles Sparks on May 24, 2024 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California Copyright: xRupertxEnglishxforxImagexofxSporx,Image: 876480855, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/Rupert English for Image of Spor / Avalon
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- Caitlyn Clark 22 dribbles the ball during the game between the Indiana Fever and the Los Angeles Sparks on May 24, 2024 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California Caitlyn Clark 22 dribbles the ball during the game between the Indiana Fever and the Los Angeles Sparks on May 24, 2024 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California Copyright: xRupertxEnglishxforxImagexofxSporx,Image: 876481643, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/Rupert English for Image of Spor / Avalon
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- Caitlin Clark on Good Morning America to talk about being 1st pick of 2024 WNBA draft Featuring: Caitlin Clark Where: New York, United States When: 16 Apr 2024 Credit: Roger Wong/INSTARimages
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- Caitlin Clark on Good Morning America to talk about being 1st pick of 2024 WNBA draft Featuring: Caitlin Clark Where: New York, United States When: 16 Apr 2024 Credit: Roger Wong/INSTARimages
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- Celebrities attending the WNBA game where the WNBA’s Washington Mystics host the Indiana Fever at the Capital One Arena. Featuring: Caitlin Clark Where: Washington, District Of Columbia, United States When: 07 Jun 2024 Credit: Media Punch/INSTARimages
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- Celebrities attending the WNBA game where the WNBA’s Washington Mystics host the Indiana Fever at the Capital One Arena. Featuring: Caitlin Clark Where: Washington, District Of Columbia, United States When: 07 Jun 2024 Credit: Media Punch/INSTARimages
Caitlin wasn’t snubbed!! Tryouts were during playoffs. She was invited to participate. Caitlin had a choice between the Olympics or going to the finals. The team was chosen during her basketball finals
I’m sure it was a very difficult choice, but I think she made the right one. She showed her dedication to get a job done.
This! So many people are unaware of how Team USA picks their basketball team. She was hooping for her team, in the finals; she wasn’t snubbed by the Olympic team. She just couldn’t be there when they were picking the roster. She’ll make the team when it’s her time. And she’ll win gold when she does.
If so, then why did she text Fever HC Christie Sides to say: “The woke a monster?”
Is caitlin stoking the mob mentality of her supporters?
I mean…it seems weird to hold women’s basketball Olympic try-outs concurrent with WNBA finals in the first place? If you’re potentially fielding professional athletes for the Olympics, assuming pros are the best of the best, wouldn’t you want to ensure they don’t have to choose between the most important time of their pro season or Olympic tryouts?
Like…could they not have scheduled around finals, for instance holding them earlier, like the men’s team did?
@Kingston, I don’t know anything about Clark, so I could be way off, but I interpreted it as they woke a monster in her, and she is going to go all in to prove they made an error (i.e. be even better than she has been, etc.). Hope I’m right! We can’t really take anymore supporters’ mob mentality in the US!
@Kingston – never mind my previous thoughts on the “monster” – I read some more comments down thread and OMG it sounds like you are right. Uggggghhhhh what is wrong with the US that mob mentality is the answer to everything?!
From my understanding she did not attend any of the training camps, and those camps are how they decide who will be picked.
Her tryout was the first part of the WNBA season.
No. If she didn’t attend the official tryout, she doesn’t just get a spot in the team.
That is not at all how that works.
The discourse around her is very weird, it’s like Meghan vs Kate all over again and I hope she’s not secretly enjoying it. People are trying to make it a white vs black situation which it isn’t. I don’t think she’s being hazed, I do think there’s some jealousy but it’s like she doesn’t even try to endear herself to the rest of the WNBA players or her teammates. It doesn’t help that majority of her fan base are right wingers that have made her a poster child
I think she’s enjoying it or she’d try to shut it down or distance herself from racist fans and politicians.
And yes, I totally agree it’s giving Meghan vs Kate vibes (and countless other times black women have been vilified to prop up a white woman).
If we were talking about men’s basketball, I don’t think there would be any expectations of a player trying to endear themselves to their competitors, or even their team mates.
If you want to win Championship in NBA/WNBS, you have to be unselfish & be a good teammate. It’s a TEAM sports. Case in point, LeBron was so great in his early career, scoring a lot of points in the playoffs, but couldn’t win a title on his own; he needs other great players on the same team.
Olympia games is about sportsmanship, isn’t it? We never want an international incident from her fans in France. People dislike Americans enough now.
This is perspective I haven’t thought of. +1
As a Black woman, the discourse and media subtext around her are really aggravating. For example, she’s not being snubbed; she’s not painted as the villain in any sports story that comes out about her, and she’s not being pounced on by the WNBA. It’s just frustrating. Because unfairly talented Black women are being shafted, overlooked, and demonized in Catilyn’s name yet the media continues to fawn over her and cry out for her
The media, commentary class and her are doing her no favors with these ridiculous stories. There was actually a suggestion a couple weeks back that the WMBA “allow” her team to win games. Actually telling team to “throw” games, so the she can be on a winning team.
So does this now mean that the NFL tells teams to let the Chicago Bears win, so their #1 draft pick QB Caleb Wiliamson can be on a victorious team his first year in the league?
The way folks try to coddle this woman is sickening.
Totally agree, @Imara219 and @A Guest. Clark is a star athlete (not the only one) and doesn’t need special help to win against other—Black, often queer—basketball players. (Remember when USA gymnastics banned one of Simone Biles’ moves because other gymnasts couldn’t do it?)
So many commentators want Clark to be a white damsel in distress so they can vilify Black women. I really wish she would distance herself from them. She seems like a fierce competitor who doesn’t personally want special treatment. I wish she would speak out more often.
100 agree with Amara219. The way the media has been portraying it’s like oh poor white girl being ganged up by the black girls. Angel Reese is a prime example about how the media favours the white counterparts. And I don’t feel sorry for Caitlin because I haven’t seen her do anything to stop this narrative. She could have graciously hyped up the Olympic team and said she will be watching and supporting them.
@Sarah I completely agree with not feeling sorry for CC because she’s not setting the record straight. Yet again, her fans fawn over how wonderful her PR training is and you can hear the unspoken “unlike Angel” or etc. who get criticized for their post-game interviews. CC at the most will say very simple things but not actually address the problem or why they need to stop. Like she’ll say “yeah I cool not being selected for the Olympics but I hope one day I will” but due to the vitriol being thrown a more “I didn’t qualify this year due to my experience, the people selected are overly talented and amazing athletes. I will be cheering on TEAMUSA and watching and learning. I hope you all will as well!” When I see her actually denouncing the harsh racist messaging is when I will give her props.
It’s that great white hope nonsense. People need to stop.
@Oh come on mentioned USA gymnastics banning one of Simone Biles’ moves because other gymnasts couldn’t do it. And that is not something that happened. She does not have any banned moves. She does have one move that is arguably undervalued. It is the highest valued beam dismount on the books, but some fans feel that it is not enough. So it is not worth doing given the difficulty and risk, but it isn’t banned. This does not mean she does not get a lot of shit for being both black and excellent, but it is important to stay factual.
Her boyfriend and brother were caught liking racist tweets a couple of weeks ago.
I’m glad im not the only who noticed the similarities between how they’ve painted Caitlin as this poor pure white girl being bullied by theee black femaie players and what we’ve witnessed with Meghan and Kate over the years. It’s honestly a bit triggering to me to be honest because it’s unfortunately black men leading ths
I’m one of the new people who started watching after the March Madness tournament, and in my generally-not-sports-following opinion, Clark isn’t really off to that great a start in the WNBA. I have no doubt she will be great someday, but at least 12 other players already *are* playing great right now and have been for years now. It doesn’t seem like much of a snub if even the most recent ROTY didn’t make the team either, and if she didn’t even try out as mentioned above and just expected to get in on popularity, then that would really turn me off. Clark is young, I would bet she has multiple Olympic appearances in her future, she just isn’t ready yet. Are people in other countries as enthralled with watching her on TV as some people in the US are? I can’t even guarantee I’ll keep watching indefinitely myself, so I don’t think potential TV ratings are the best criteria for selecting a championship team.
100% AGREE!!
Oh come on,
I did not know that about Simone Biles! Big surprise, this is the first I’m hearing about that! That is OUTRAGEOUS 😤😡
If I recall correctly, Simone performed the banned move at the end of one of her practice/performances and was docked points for it. She was given a 6.6 as opposed to her regular and consistent 10’s.
None of Simone’s moves have been banned. They will just be scored so low it won’t be worth the gymnast’s time (and life) to perform it. The article also stated the move is so dangerous most gymnasts don’t even attempt to practice it.
I mentioned this upthread, but Simone’s move was not banned. A little background on the scoring: On balance beam you get a difficulty score based on the difficulty rating of the eight hardest skills you perform and the requirements you meet and connection bonus (and then a score out of ten for execution). The easiest skills are rated A and get a score of 0.1. Most routines that make a world or Olympic final would only want to count skills rated D (0.4) or higher. Simone submitted the double twisting double back. It was rated H (0.8). It is the highest rated skill you can do on beam. The problem is that most fans feel that the difference in reward between this and the next hardest skill is not large enough. If you can get 0.7 for doing the single twisting double back then the extra 0.1 that you get for adding another twist is not worth it. It really should be at least an I (0.9) and I would argue for a J (1.0). But this is not the only undervalued skill in the code and most of Simone’s skills (she has a lot of them) have been accurately rewarded.
The 6.6 you are mentioning may be for her second named vault. It is not undervalued. It is the hardest and most highly rewarded vault in the code. Most people are ok with the difficulty rating. She does sometimes get a deduction on it because she has her coach spot her when she does it in competition, but anyone else who does that would also get the same deduction.
I hope that “they woke a monster” text isn’t real or I’m going to have to call her Basketball Karen from now on.
It’s totally out of context.
@eurydice: what’s the context? that sounds snotty, but i’m genuinely curious. i don’t follow basketball or the wnba. the little i know about clark is what’s seeped through to non-sports media. thanks! 🙂
@mblates – this is the whole quote from her coach:
“She got the call on the bus and she texted me to let me know and I just tried to keep her spirits up,” Sides said. “The thing she said was ‘hey coach, they woke a monster,’ which I thought was awesome.”
Okay, so it IS in context? Because I don’t so the difference between what was reported and what she allegedly “actually” said.
And remember, hyper competitive people, and athletes especially, say this kind of stuff. Michael Jordan was notorious for imagining slights made by the competition as a motivational tool during his career. Two weeks of extra rest and a new source of motivation will likely do wonders for Clark in the back half of the WNBA season.
@Mimi – As we see in the original comment, the implication from just the one line is that Caitlin’s a Karen and will behave like a monster because she’s been “snubbed.” “Out of context” means one line was pulled out of a larger statement that would give it a different meaning. The entire quote changes the meaning to be that Caitlin wasn’t hurt and didn’t need to have her spirits picked up, but wanted to work even harder. This coincides with everything Caitlin’s been saying about this in her interviews. The coach would not have said it was “awesome” if Caitlin announced she would be a brat.
In general, I don’t understand all this piling on and judgement of a talented young woman who’s only played 6 games in the WNBA. And from what I can tell, a lot of this judgement comes from people who wouldn’t watch the sport anyway. Let the experienced players go to the Olympics and let Caitlin learn how to play as a professional – it’s very simple and doesn’t need any drama.
I agree, but the media and her fan base won’t let that go to rest.
The media loves Caitlin because unlike other great female players, she’s white and came from the salt of the earth, god’s country. The media has been hyping her profile and it works. She is the most famous female player right now. For long time women’s B-ball followers, they know other great players, but MSM doesn’t focus on them.
Caitlin is a tremendous player. She’s young and far too soon to be calling her GOAT, but the media has called her one.
Caitlin may not want the brouhaha, but her livelihood and sponsorship depend on being loved. So the young woman isn’t going to tell her fanbase to stop with the race baiting and making her their “great white hope”. The team owners are counting on her star power to bring more viewers.
I have no idea what kind of person she is, but even I noticed some the “great white hope” thing the people are doing to her. The sport commentators and her fans are calling all the names under the sun to the black women she is competing against. Did she ever call out the kind of language they are using to defend her? If not, I understand why her teammates are not happy with her. You can be a great player, but if you can’t be the part of a team, how are you gonna play? This isn’t one person job.
Exactly Sevenblue. She hasn’t said a peep about the racism being lobbed at the Black women in the league in her name and to me that says everything
@Tanesha86, yeah that isn’t good for her future. I read they tried the same thing with another white woman and she called it out, wrote a statement condemning the racist language against the black women. So, it looks like now they found what they are looking for.
EXACTLY!!! She has not! Not one word. So yeah she enjoys it. Also, if she behaved the same exact way on the court as a Black woman she’d be eviscerated. (See what happens to ANY Black woman that talks trash right back to her). The denial of her White privilege by her fans as she blasts it from the rooftops on and off the court has been nauseating to watch.
She hasn’t said anything about it. But her brother and boyfriend have liked some really racist tweets about Angel Reese, so…yeah.
It’s glaring to me as well, and I don’t follow basketball. It’s very much the white woman savior versus the evil black women. It’s Kate the Great lying about making Meghan cry.
She is silent about the racism being done in her name, so she is complicit and even passively inciting it, letting herself be weaponized against Black women because it gives her a boost.
The Olympics are not guaranteed for any athlete.. the athletes have to qualify obviously she did not. This isn’t a story, it’s manufactured outrage over nothing. I don’t know much about this woman but I don’t like what I read about her in the press at all.
Yeah, they’re trying to create a narrative. Caitlin said she’s not disappointed, that she’ll work hard to make the next Olympic team and she’ll be rooting for this year’s team.
If anybody thinks men don’t gossip, they should try watching sports news.
I’m in Indiana and I’ve been watching the Indiana Fever for many years, since the Tamika Catchings days when the Fever won the WNBA Championship. As an Indiana University fan, I really had a hard dislike for CC, but honestly she’s been nothing but gracious and very quiet about the supposed ‘hazing’ going on. And we see a lot (!!!) of Fever/CC stories in our local news. My favorite Fever player and last year’s rookie of the year, Aaliyah Boston, and CC are going to be a great duo, along with some of the other ladies. CC is having a great rookie year for someone who finished a hard college season and then IMMEDIATELY has to jump into WNBA training/games. The league has been hard on these new rookies, I think, look at Angel Reese and the hard foul she took a week or so ago…it’s not just CC. I believe there is some jealousy from the other players and I can’t blame them, they’ve been balling for years and now it’s like they are invisible, but eventually it will quiet down. As the mom of three girls, who all played basketball, I’m just glad that the WNBA is getting some recognition for a change!
The league is hard on all new rookies and always has been, just like any sports league.
The issue isn’t how the league treats rookies, it’s how many in the media and CC’s fans act like such treatment is solely directed at her. Solely directed at CC because the other players are being ‘racist.’ When the foul against Angel Reese is mentioned to counter that ‘it’s just her’ narrative, they shift the goalposts and say that foul wasn’t the same because it was during a ‘basketball play.’
I want to like CC, but the toxicity and outright racism from a very vocal portion of her fanbase is making it hard.
mellie – thanks for the perspective from Indiana; imho seems like a lot of the CC articles are highly inflammatory and I see no reason why I should get worked up over conflict, real or imagined.
The first time I heard about her was when my “Trump 2024” swimtrunk- wearing neighbor when off on how she’s being held back “because she’s white”. That told me a LOT.
It’s hilarious to me that all the anti-affirmative action (even though white women are the main beneficiaries of it) and anti-DEI people are up in arms about her not being gifted a spot. Not because she’s the best player (who hasn’t earned anything yet and has been in the league one hot second) but because then they could do puff pieces of her shopping in Paris and because she’s “popular.”
Thank you. I love that a bunch of people are mad that a white woman isn’t the best at something and keep showing their butts about it.
She wasn’t snubbed 🙄. There’s not one player on the roster she’s better than. Her defense is garbage, she’s a ball hog and she still has some growing and learning to do. If she’s struggling with the physicality of pro ball in the WNBA, she’s definitely not ready to play internationally
Trash talking ball hog and egomaniac. I wouldn’t want her on my team. Also when she’s on, she’s on. When she’s off….ouf!
What’s sad is that she is dominating the headlines when you look up to see who did make the team. If you search online for who made the men’s team you get a list of those who made it and not a bunch of headlines of someone whining about not making it.
Very much this. I don’t follow basketball at all in any country but I’m delighted to see Brittney Griner’s name on the list. After the trauma she’s been though I had no idea she’s back playing and I’m so happy for her. I hope it’s helping her heal.
Same here. Absolutely thrilled that BG has the support of USA Olympics and will play in Paris.
I saw a really good discussion about this over the weekend. My take away was no, she’s not being snubbed. The USA women’s team is one of the best in the world, the bench is THAT deep and she’s a rookie who was focused on other important stuff when the team was being pick this year; she’s good, but not yet at that level for professional, international play … because she’s just starting out. she’s already had a huge fantastic trajectory in a short time, as part of a years long career in basketball; no doubt she will make the team down the line.
And also SO much of the commentary, including among professional talking heads, on the dynamics between her and the veterans she’s playing with, against is showing gender bias. The physicality, competitiveness is no different in the WNBA than the NBA but no one blathers on about men being jealous or petty or hazing, it’s viewed as normal competitive, strong, big league play. (There was talk of people stirring drama like the WNBA are the Real Housewives)
And there are obviously some people hitching their “white savior” and perpetual victim narratives to the whole thing, which just shows their own issues.
Yes, the sports gatekeepers are shocked, shocked that the WNBA are playing like professionals. The women can’t just be good athletes – they have to be ladies or mean girls or, as you say, Real Housewives. But, that’s OK. Interest is growing, arenas are filling up and the PTB’s will have to get used to it.
No they’ve already made Angel Reese the villain. So that spot is taken. Apparently the real reason she wasn’t picked was because she was in the final four and so missed the Team USA training camp. Plus people say she will be eaten up alive if she was on the team because FIBA basketball is even tougher than the WNBA.
Wait… How is Angel Reese a villain? Maybe to MAGA types who just want to be racist.
Angel Reese is most definitely the villain and it’s not just MAGA types. It includes the causal white viewing audience that is being nasty, condescending and rude about Reese.
What should be said is that Angel is being portrayed as the villain in the media. She’s not actually the villain. The examples in comments above about Kate vs Meghan are good examples. Meghan wasn’t the villain but that’s the media wanted you to believe.
I would think that doesn’t have to be said in this space because in this space, I hope, we all know that the issue is the portrayal. I was under the assumption that’s the basis we were already talking about this subject. Obviously Angel is an actual true villain just as Caitlyn isn’t the actual damsel in distress.
opps typo…I mean “obviously Angel isn’t an actual true villain….”
@Steph: It’s not only the press that view Angel Reese as the villain, a lot of fans in their need to protect Caitlin Clark, see her as the villain. Meghan wasn’t the villain? This is the first I’m hearing of this. Meghan’s been gone over 4 years and she’s still be villain in the eyes of the press, the Palace and royalists.
@imara219 I would hope what you meant was obvious too. It didn’t seem like it was to everyone though.
People who have been following women’s basketball for a while were not entirely surprised by the decision. The media is playing it up as a snub – it’s a great storyline.
The facts are – she’s very young, Ionescu is the youngest player on the roster and she’s 26.
FIBA rules are different from the NCAA and the WNBA – International basketball is a much more physical game than even the WNBA and she’s having a tough time with the physicality of the W.
Clark has never worked out with or played with the senior team – she’s played on the U20 team, but never with the senior team. They only have about two weeks of practice before the Olympics – not enough time for her to really gel with the team. Particularly given that she’s never played with any of these women before – it’s easier to bring in someone new like Ionescu when her teammate Brianna Stewart is already there.
The roster they have is STACKED. Which guard do you leave off? Sabrina? Kelsey Plum? Chelsea Gray? DT?
The argument in favor is that she is young and she is the future of that team. Get her the international experience now, so she can become the leader they will need in 8 years when most of the current roster has retired. A good argument, but not enough to overcome the other stuff.
Agree with all of this, especially the team dynamics and the decision is a good one. Imagine the media circus surrounding CC and the problems that can cause. It was at a high level during the NCAA championship, when she had her own designated reporter, telling us what she ate for breakfast, etc. It’s too much when you need to focus on being a unified team.
Totally agree with all of this – it’s not surprising (or incorrect) if you’ve been paying attention.
I’m also not a fan of her not saying anything about the insane double standard between her and Angel Reese. Be cocky, talk sh*t, but don’t leave your fellow players out there to take abuse from the public – especially not on your behalf.
Tangential WNBA Note: Can we please give Brittney Griner her flowers? Not many could come back from the literal gulag to lead the league, and I’m proud that she will be repping the USA in the Olympics.
seems to me that the ‘fans’ she’s bringing into the nba are a bunch of white supremacist’s
100%
She is an introvert so all this discourse around her is unnecessary. I have never seen her say anything problematic thus far (correct me if I am wrong). But people have either made her a villain or Goddess depending on who you ask.
I am an introvert too, but if someone uses racist remarks while defending me or attacks black women, I am competing against, with that kind of language, I wouldn’t wait even one second to call their racist asses out. It is not that hard to tell your fans to stop being racist. Silence isn’t the solution here.
I hate when people use introversion as an excuse for bad, lazy, or incompetent behavior. Like in this situation or with Katie Keen. What does being an introvert have to do with calling out racism or speaking up for your teammates or shutting down certain narratives?
It’s what she’s not saying and hasn’t said. Her silence is deafening. We see you Caitlin.
I’m an introvert, but if my boyfriend and brother were liking racists tweets about Angel Reese, you can be damned sure I’d tell them to ****ing stop and let it be known widely that I disagreed with them.
That is a terrible headline, Caitlin wasn’t snubbed nor is she getting hazed by the other players.
I continue to be baffled by all the evilness people are projecting onto CC. She hasn’t done a damn thing but be gracious and play ball. But because someone somewhere said something racist, it’s her responsibility to fix it. That’s some bullshit.
There has been some really petty behavior out of a lot of the veterans of the WNBA because CC is getting more attention than them. Hopefully they grow up and get over it.
@ Fancyhat
You tell on yourself every time.
@Fancyhat what evilness are you talking about? I’ve not seen a single personal attack on CC in any of the comments here. Sounds like you made that up
Put Clark on the team to guarantee US viewership is a completely stupid argument. The committee who selected the team take into account if she can handle the physicality because the teams from the other countries are not going to pull their punches on Clark. They want to win gold too. Putting Clark on now is a motivator for the other teams to embarrass her and America for putting a rookie on the team because she is popular.
Stupid or not, Clark gets viewership. Plain and simple.
Yes, all these selection committees are looking to assemble the best team possible, but so many of these second tier sports in America are ALSO constantly looking to grow the sport and their fanbase. Women’s basketball, track and field, soccer, etc. are all scrapping for youth interest and money-making opportunities. It would have been a business decision to put Clark on the team, and I wouldn’t have blamed them one bit for it.
That being said, I’m not sure she’d even WANT that kind of pressure/attention/hate of being on the team for business decisions. She’s a 22 year old rookie who’s having a whirlwind of a life right now. I’d want to watch the games from the solitude of my apartment this summer, if I were her.
Does she get viewers? Yes. Do the other teams & their stars? Yes. The W was growing before Caitlin and it’ll continue to grow after she’s gone. International viewers don’t care about her. The Olympics are gonna get viewers regardless of Caitlin. This argument is bizarre to me. It’s the Olympics.
And yes, Caitlin wants all of the attention that comes with being a star. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t have signed her marketing contracts or gone on SNL. She wants to be a superstar. She wanted to be on the Olympic squad. She could have applied for the 3X3, but she didn’t and a rookie is on that squad.
@TheOriginalMia- If you ask a thousand Americans today to name a woman basketball player, the majority will say Caitlin Clark. Double that number of you ask a thousand kids under 18. That equals money. Money for companies, money for the other players, and money for a sport that absolutely needs it.
I agree that the Olympic selection committee doesn’t necessarily care about any of that, but IF THEY DID (and some argue they should), Caitlin would have been on the team.
Regarding the fame and attention: Caitlin didn’t sign all those marketing contracts or go on SNL just because she sought it. She probably wanted more than the $76,000 just playing basketball would have given her. If you have to deal with all the hassle of being famous, you better at least get paid for it.
Team No Snub. I could certainly see NBC wanting Clark there to trade on her record breaking college career/current flavor of the year but I trust Coach Staley to bring the best players for the job. Clark needs to level up on defense at the very least just to be in the WNBA, let alone the Olympics. Popularity doesn’t equal wins.
Coach Dawn Staley’s team had zero losses this last season which is crazy, I can’t think of anyone qualified to second guess the choices she and the Olympic committee are making.
The media loves to make this woman the victim of the big bad Black and Lesbian women of the W. I had to mute her name because I’m sick of hearing about her. She has no defense. She’s a ball hog. Yes, she can score but she’s also leading the league in turnovers. She needs to bulk up. Putting Caitlin on the roster would be nothing more than pandering to her base. The same folks who bitch about DEI & don’t see the irony of demanding she be placed on the roster because she’s the Great White Hope of the W. Her fans aren’t fans of the game. They only support her because they believe she will put the Black players in their place beneath her. As for the argument, she’s not on social media, she’s an introvert, she isn’t deaf and dumb. She knows what they are saying about her teammates and employer. She chooses to not get involved in defending them. Kinda hard to do so when her brother and boyfriend are liking posts bashing Angel, Aliyah and everyone not her.
I think the break will be good for CC tbh. I’m a Fever fan and I think she needs it both physically and mentally. The Fever’s schedule has been insane and she went straight from the college season to the wnba season, basically. I think she knows that too but is a competitor and would never say it.
People seem to want to use her in some sort of culture war and I think that’s unfair to her. She isn’t even on social media (she and Boston both left because it was so toxic) and when asked has always been quick to say “it’s basketball, we are competing.”
I think the bigger snub is Arike AND I think we should all be discussing why Taurasi is on this team. It’s not that she’s bad but at some point you do need to make way for younger players (not as young as CC even but DT is 42). More than anything I think the irritating thing in women’s basketball is the chokehold UConn and Geno have – in 2016 when he left CANDACE PARKER off in favor of Breanna Stewart that was wild AF. That was a snub. CP was the MVP of the WNBA that year I think. And Geno chose to take a rookie from his college team.
I think Arike is eligible for the Nigerian roster. If she’s on the US roster, she’s riding the bench behind a healthy Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and Sabrina Ionescu. On the Nigerian roster, she starts every game.
As for DT, I’m torn. She turns 42 next week, but she’s been playing well this season and I trust Dawn Staley. If there is anyone who could tell DT to sit down and stay home, it would be Coach Staley. They played against each other and they played together. If Coach sees something there to work with, I’m going to accept that it’s there.
I’m really irritated with the reporting around this. It isn’t a snub. She just turned pro. She’s not ready to play on the Olympic stage. She is barely ready for the WNBA. 🙄
I don’t follow sports, but shouldn’t the bigger story be how Britney Griner made it out of nearly a year of political imprisonment in Russia and is back playing on the Olympic team?
I’m thinking once this initial “oh noosss Caitlyn wasn’t picked” dies down that Britney’s story will be pushed going into the Olympics. This is the stuff their media packets love. The talented player, hardships endured, extreme distress, triumph return home and to the game. It’s a ready made media package. The issue is that some American-based news sources are mad because they really wanted Caitlyn in Paris stories as fluff pieces.
I don’t follow basketball at all but from what I can see this woman has been a professional player for…six weeks or so? And people thought she should be put on the Olympic team? Over experienced veterans who have been playing for years? How does that make any sense?
It only makes sense to those who believe the White Woman must always be centered.
I’m suspicious as well. Caitlin is the perfect villain because she starts all these issues and brushes it off. Has she realized she is the villain? I hope so because that will be an awful revelation for her. Just to add I liked her trash talk. It’s the outside press that’s causing an issue.
Either the press is trying to protect her image OR THEY ARE SETTING HER UP TO BE THE VILLIAN. Honestly, I don’t think it’s right to do this to a 22 year old. They have to let a reporter call her out in the next few years or her post-wnba career will be terrible.
She wasn’t snubbed. She wasn’t entitled to a spot. She’s too inconsistent right now.
Meanwhile, slayer Georgia Amoore is reunited with Australia for this world event 😫
A second point. She is a rookie. Just like with other sports. They say “rookie snubbed” but no, you are a rookie. It should be rare for a rookie to make an Olympic team. The usa is suppose to be the best. A rookie shouldn’t even deam of making the team. The wnba would need to be starved of talent for Caitlin who had a Rocky college career to make the OLYMPICS.
The whole situation is giving me Serena v Sharapova vibes.
I will never forget the US open where US fans cheered on Sharapova (a naturalised US citizen) vs Serena bc there was a segment of fans who wanted Serena humbled by whiteness.
The whole narrative of Serena and Sharapova being ‘rivals’ despite the scorecard being something like 20:2 in Serena’s favour.
The whole narrative around Serena and indeed the Williams sisters by former players such as Navratilova, Chris Evert Lloyd and others. I believe only Billie Jean King stood up for the Williams.
Every time Serena was beaten by an attractive white player the absolute meal that certain publications made of it.
The very white centred endorsements that Sharapova received i.e. premium watches, designer goods, sports cars etc, which were denied Serena until much later in her career.
The way that certain fans and even commentators lobbied for Sharapova’s return after her drug ban whilst Serena was subject to testing levels never experienced by any Tennis player male of female in history. Very Kate v Meghan or Michelle v Melania etc etc
The way that Serena’s body was subject to constant scrutiny and ridicule and the effects that had on her mental health until she made the conscious decision to love herself. The pictures of her in papers like the DM with dehumanising headlines. Apparently an agreement was later reached because things had got so bad that any articles about Serena had to be moderated in advance.
So I just want the ring leaders to know that when I see the inhumanity that Angel Reese is subjected to, it makes me cheer for her harder. She clearly has talent that terrifies them.
I am sure that Caitlin Clark is a fantastic athlete but she needs better PR and Management so that she is not aligned with or seemingly leaning into this harmful rhetoric for her own benefit.
Great post, Flower, breaking down the similarities in coverage of Serena vs Sharapova.
Brava, Flower, brava! Let us not forget how Serena’s every garment was judged “inappropriate” for the court.
I hadn’t paid any attention to women’s college basketball until the “rivalry” between CC and Angel Reece, and then I did just because the teasing headlines make it impossible not to click. The first article I read told me everything I needed to know. It’s only a matter of time before Angel’s garments fall under scrutiny. That train is never late. Angel has a tough road ahead of her, but many of us have already read that map and have her back. Plus, and I know it doesn’t matter, but she has great style. Ok, I have a shallow side.
Also, on what planet is “Great White Hope” not racist AF?!? Was I the only one who gasped at reading that in 2024?
Thank you, Flower, for pointing out those similarities.
The world can survive without CC on a Basketball team for two weeks.
And if she is as great as people say. Summer 2028 Olympics. Will be a fantastic year for her since it will be hosted in Los Angeles. And she will be a seasoned player.
It’s disappointing to see falsehoods about how WNBA players have treated Clark written here but you admit to not knowing much about the WNBA so I’ll help by setting a few things straight. Caitlin is not being hazed because the players hate her; she’s not being maliciously targeted. She is dealing with an adjustment to a professional league that is much more physical than she is used to.
A’ja Wilson, a 2x MVP and one of the most liked players in the WNBA, got hit in the face last week against the Wings so many times that she was literally bleeding(and never got a whistle for it). Angel Reese literally got slammed to the floor by her neck by Alyssa Thomas(who was ejected) a couple days after getting hip checked by Jonquel Jones(common foul) just the other week. While the cheap shot Caitlin took from Chennedy Carter was not ok it was also in response to Caitlin getting in her face talking s*** and shoving her; it was an excessive retaliation but it wasn’t targeted.
Also: this isn’t a snub. She’s a rookie who is not better RIGHT NOW than the roster full of All Stars who’ve been selected and as the excerpted article points out most of them also have some type of Olympic experiences. The only other time rookies have been selected they were involved in Olympic training camps before which she hasn’t been and tbh I’m glad she wasn’t chosen this year because chances are she wouldn’t seen the court and then their coaching staff and players would be getting harassed by the media about why she wasnt playing and these players have had to deal with enough of this crap the lasr few weeks to last a lifetime. Her time will come though and when it does I’m sure she will be great.