The NCAA’s all-time leading scorer won’t be representing the US at the upcoming Paris Olympics according to multiple reports Saturday.
Caitlin Clark, who’s currently a member of the WNBA’s Indiana Fever, missed training camp earlier this year as she was still competing with Iowa in the NCAA Tournament. However, many assumed that the biggest draw in women’s basketball would likely be added to the star studded Team USA, even if only in a limited role in her rookie year.
Those thoughts were subsequently squashed Saturday when multiple outlets reported that the American side would instead go with a more veteran heavy approach this summer.
While few will argue that the Americans, who haven’t lost a game since 1992 at the Olympics, are still the runaway favourites to bring home gold, with or without Clark, the omission seems like a missed opportunity to continue to ride the wave of attention the former Hawkeye has brought to the sport over the past year and change.
The US is a notoriously tough squad to crack. And this year is no exception. Arike Ogunbowale, who’s currently averaging 26.6pts/4.2reb/5ast per game while shooting 95.2% from the free throw line with the Dallas Wings was another notable omission.
However, regardless of where you fall on the spectrum of opinions about women’s sports, race, and the thousand other storylines which have come out of the WNBA in recent weeks, one fact remains undeniable: Clark is the biggest star in women’s basketball.
Now, that doesn’t mean she’s the best player in the world. But, where she goes, fans go. When she plays, people tune in. What she says, turns into national sports storylines, dissected by talking heads who never thought so much as to mention when a WNBA champion was crowned in the past, let alone cover a meaningless Thursday night regular season game between two lottery bound teams.
For better or for worse, Caitlin Clark sells tickets, boosts sponsorship revenue, and get fans from across the globe to tune in. You can make the argument that it was a smart basketball decision to omit the rookie from Team USA in terms of roster construction, team chemistry etc. But the fact remains it was a poor business decision by USA Basketball.
That’s not an attempt to take anything away from Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier, Jewell Loyd, Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young, Alyssa Thomas, Sabrina Ionescu, Kahleah Copper, Brittney Griner, and Diana Taurasi. Each can make a strong case as to why they deserve to be there.
But it does mean that whatever exploits they accomplish will likely be done in front of fewer eyeballs. Which is a shame. A shame that when Taurasi breaks the record for most Olympic Games as a basketball player (this summer will be her 6th Olympic trip), there won’t be the same level of praise and coverage that it rightfully deserves. That when Griner makes her first international appearance since her detention in a Russian prison, it won’t be viewed as the monumental affair that it should be.
And most importantly, the fact that when America fields one of the strongest women’s basketball teams the sport has ever seen, it could fall victim to getting bumped from major network coverage for other events such as swimming, or track and field.
In the end, women’s basketball ends up losing out on “what could have been”, even if Team USA brings home the gold when all is said and done.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: JazzyJoeyD. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.