When Caitlin Clark was left off the Team USA women’s basketball team for the 2024 Paris Olympics, many wondered why the sensational rookie didn’t make the cut.
Dawn Staley is a member of the Team USA women’s basketball team committee and had a hand in building the 12-player roster. She admitted Sunday while speaking to NBC’s Mike Tirico that if the team was built now, the Indiana Fever rookie would have a high chance.
“As a committee member, you’re charged with putting together the best team of players, the best talent,” Staley said. “Caitlin is just a rookie in the WNBA, wasn’t playing bad, but she 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,” she continued. “Shooting the ball extremely well, she is an elite passer, she has just got a great basketball IQ, and she’s a little more seasoned in the pro game than she was two months ago.”
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Before the team was announced on June 11, Clark was averaging 16.3 points on 37.3% shooting with 4.9 rebounds and 6.0 assists. She’s only continued to improve, and set a a single-game record with 19 assists before the Olympics break.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in June that while he understood the reasoning for not having Clark on the roster, he would have liked to see her be part of Team USA.
“From my standpoint — and I’m independent from USA Basketball, somebody whose job is to oversee the NBA and ultimately the WNBA — I wouldn’t say I’m disappointed, but it would have been nice to see her on the floor,” Silver said. “There’s no question that she’s one of the most popular players at this point in the world. The ratings demonstrate that.”
The reasoning behind leaving Clark off the roster was reportedly due to how fans of hers would react to the Indiana Fever rookie receiving limited playing time, two longtime USA basketball veterans told USA TODAY’s Christine Brennan.
Clark has received enormous attention before even arriving to the WNBA this year. She became the all-time Division I basketball scoring leader in her final season at Iowa and was thanked by South Carolina coach Dawn Staley for “lifting up” women’s basketball after the Gamecocks defeated Iowa in the women’s NCAA championship game.
While it wasn’t a popular opinion across social media to leave Clark off the roster, she did say she was excited to have a break and get some rest.
