Caitlin Clark keeps on playing as Olympic roster controversy swirls around her

UNCASVILLE – Caitlin Clark was on the bench the last quarter of the WNBA game against the Connecticut Sun Monday night. She had four fouls, the Indiana Fever trailed by double digits, and she wasn’t coming back into the game.And still, a chorus of fans at Mohegan Sun Arena chanted, “We want Caitlin, we want Caitlin.”It was similar to the national chorus who called foul when Clark was not one of the players selected to the 12-person U.S. Olympic team. The team is expected to be officially announced Tuesday, but it was reported Friday night by multiple sources, including Christine Brennan of USA Today, that Clark would not be one of those chosen, although there were reports Monday that Clark would be one of the top alternates to the team if there is an injury.Clark confirmed over the weekend that she hadn’t been chosen and reiterated Monday that she was simply grateful to be in pool of players that were considered.“I think it’s just your dream and your goal – I just got out of college, so to be in that conversation is huge,” Clark said after the Sun beat the Fever 89-72 Monday. Clark had 10 points on 3 for 8 shooting in 22 minutes.“To the women who were selected, you look at that roster and that roster is really talented. I hope the conversation is about those 12 and them having the opportunity that most people don’t get in their lifetime. I’ll be cheering for them; I’ll be rooting for them. I hope they go out and win gold.”But the national conversation has not been about those 12 women. It has focused solely on Clark.Brennan stated that two sources, “both long-time U.S. basketball veterans with decades of experience in the women’s game, told USA TODAY Sports Friday that concern over how Clark’s millions of fans would react to what would likely be limited playing time on a stacked roster was a factor in the decision making.”Dick Vitale tweeted that it was “absurd and sickening” that Clark didn’t make the team. Colin Cowherd tweeted that Clark is “TV Gold. Opportunity wasted.” Mike Lupica said the decision was “monumentally dumb.” One headline read: “WNBA Stars Don’t Want To Play with Caitlin Clark in 2024 Paris Olympics.”Clark said Monday she doesn’t look at social media.“I’m sure it blew up, but that would have been the case one way or another, whether I was on the team or not on the team,” Clark said Monday. “I don’t know what specifically was talked about. I know it’s talked about. I just hope the conversation stays around those 12 girls and what they’re going to do in Paris.”ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo, an Olympian herself in 1996, said she thought Clark has handled herself well through the tumult.“My thing is – is Caitlin a worthy basketball player to be on the USA Basketball team?” Lobo said. “Of course she is. This isn’t because there’s any fault in her game. But who do you take off?“When I saw the roster – I didn’t read the headline ‘Caitlin Clark was omitted’ – and my first thought was this is a hell of a team. This is a great roster. All of these women are worthy. If you want to point to a snub, it would be (WNBA All-Star) Arike Ogunbowale who has been proving herself over the course of her entire career in the W. The roster, as it’s constructed, is constructed to win a gold medal.”The 12 players who are expected to be named to the team are: Taurasi, going for her sixth Olympic gold medal at age 42; her Phoenix Mercury teammates Brittany Griner (a two-time Olympic gold medalist) and Kahleah Cooper (three-time All-Star, the league’s third leading scorer); last year’s WNBA MVP and UConn’s four-time NCAA champion Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu of the New York Liberty; Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum, A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young of the defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces; former UConn star Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx, Jewell Loyd of the Seattle Storm and the Connecticut Sun’s Alyssa Thomas.Lobo said that Clark’s lack of time spent with the national team – because she was in college or playing in the Final Four the last two years – may have been a factor in the decision. Jen Rizzotti, the Connecticut Sun’s president who was the chairperson of the Olympic selection committee, told Doug Feinberg of the AP in April that the beginning of the WNBA season would serve as Clark’s tryout time.“I think this is important too – some people will say Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart, they were on the Olympic team the summer after college – yes, so was Sylvia Fowles and Candace Parker, but in all those examples, the women had an opportunity to play or train with the national team before the Olympic team was named,” Lobo said. “Stewie and Candace both participated in world championships when they were in college and had some sort of training experience with that national team.“Through no fault of her own, Caitlin hasn’t had those opportunities for scheduling reasons or whatever.”And Lobo had another question: which of those players do you remove to put Clark on the roster?“It’s easy for people to say, ‘Oh, Caitlin has to be on the team – OK, but then which one of those very worthy women do you take off?” Lobo said. “Nobody wants to go to that part of the conversation – ‘Oh, she can help grow the game.’ She’s helped grow the game already in incredible ways – is the game going to stall or sputter during the Olympics if Caitlin isn’t on it? No. It’s not.”But Clark’s defenders would point to the figures released by the WNBA Monday about attendance, TV viewership and merchandise sales – all up in the era of Caitlin Clark. About 400,000 fans went to WNBA games for the first month of the season, the most in 26 years. Merchandise sales are skyrocketing, and arenas have been filled to 94 percent capacity across the league, including the Capital One Center in Washington Friday night which saw one of the largest crowds in WNBA history, over 20,000 fans, for a Fever-Washington Mystics game, which Indiana won 85-83 when Clark hit seven 3-pointers.However, the Olympics is a different story, ESPN analyst Debbie Antonelli, who works as a broadcast analyst for Fever games, said Monday.“I look at it this way – generally speaking, they’re trying to win,” Antonelli said of the Olympic team. “(Olympic coach) Cheryl Reeve and the committee are putting together the best 12 that gives us the best chance to win.“It’s the most extreme pressure you’re ever going to feel, to represent the country. You got to go with the people you feel will help you win. That’s not taking anything away from Caitlin, Arike – whoever else. That’s the most compelling thing I don’t hear anybody talking about – winning. What 12 do we need to win?” 

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