By Jamison Ness
Edited by Dr. Thomas Orr
In the summer Olympics, men’s basketball has consistently been around since 1936. After that, women’s basketball in the summer Olympics was introduced in 1976. In 2017, the Olympic committee decided to make 3x3 basketball an official summer Olympic sport for men’s and women’s, starting in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Since then, the growth of the WNBA and women’s basketball in general throughout the USA has been immense. Because of this growth, roster releases for the Olympics are always an interesting time. With so much talent from coast to coast, it is difficult to predict who will be asked to be on the 3x3 Team USA roster. That being said, the 2024 Paris Olympic roster for women's 3x3 basketball has been released, and everyone is talking about Caitlyn Clark’s snub. For example, Women's Basketball Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie went as far to say, “I don’t know how you leave the country without her ''.
Overall, Caitlin Clark's last few months have not been the fairytale all of her fans were hoping for, like her Iowa days. Caitlin has undoubtedly shown physical signs of being beat down these first few months in the WNBA. While she is still showing amazing talent and putting up good numbers, she just simply is a rookie. Because of that, the adjustment to the WNBA is very real, even for a talent phenomenon like her. There has been intense social media buzz around the treatment of rookies in the league this season specifically. There are storylines circling the web that people believe that older players may be jealous of the attention that these new rookies have brought to the league. That obviously involves Caitlin, as she has played a massive part in increased coverage and funding for the WNBA. Caitlin has dealt with devious pushes and shoves, and it has all been chalked up to just being a part of the rookie treatment. While that may have some truth to it, the star is undoubtedly showing signs of needing some time and recovery to get back to her A game. An invite to the 2024 Summer Olympics women's basketball 3x3 team surely would have boosted Caitlin Clarks satisfaction with her last couple months of basketball. So the question a lot of fans have is “why not take her?” and beyond that, people are advocating for the fact that Caitlin Clark definitely would not hurt the roster, but even if she is not playing the best basketball of her life, she is still pretty amazing. Additionally, having her on that roster brings an extensive amount of media and attention along with it. So why not bring her on?
Rebecca Lobo explains that Clark was unable to attend any of the major training camps for the event because of the WNBA season. Although the league honors a break for the Olympics in the summer, it simply is not feasible to do that for every training camp. In the same article, Rebecca Lobo goes on to explain that Caitlin Clark undoubtedly has amazing talent, but that does not change the fact that if she were to jump into the Olympics with no practice or bonding with the team, it could be an “uphill battle” That being said, she could be a top choice for an injured player replacement.
Although this “excuse” of rookies not being able to effectively make a difference on these roster because of the camps and heavy physical wear and tear of the WNBA season, this argument does have evidence against it. In the past, mens basketball legend Christian Laettner made the USA basketball team for the 1992 Olympics, and had impressive performances to help them bring home gold. The “Dream Team” of the 1992 Olympics would not have been the same without him. That being said, he did not get to attend camps the way the rest of that roster did because he was still in college at the time. SO if he can do it, why can’t Caitlin?
Aside from just the basketball perspective of all of this, this is a huge marketing and money fumble by Basketball USA. We have learned over the past year and a half that the media follows Caitlin Clark. Her storyline is wholesome and she is someone America loves to root for. Because of that, having Caitlin Clark at the Olympics to play for Team USA would increase the coverage of Team USA Women's Basketball immensely. The games would be more discussed, analyzed more thoroughly, and their victories would be celebrated more intensely. Having Caitlin there even if she's not going to be your number one benefits the USA women's Basketball program immensely. Additionally, Caitlin would be able to learn lessons from the greatest people that she is going to take after.
The shock and sadness of this snub to Clark fans may leave them wondering if there are any positives to this. And, there may be. For example, Caitlin’s body is struggling. Like I mentioned above, she has struggled with some intense pushes and just overall gotten beaten up. She is visibly bruised, and not in her peak physical state. In order to allow Caitlin to be the star that she is, and do that for a long time, she needs time to let her body adjust to this. If we are looking for a positive from this, one would definitely be giving her body the chance to get where it needs to be. Another exciting thing for Clark fans to hear, is at a press conference for the Indiana Fever, Clark expressed that by not being selected for their roster, team USA has “woke a monster”. This quote helps show that Clark is a competitor to the bone, and this snub will only drive her to prove team USA wrong, and become even more of a star.
Overall, Caitlin’s talent speaks for itself. Although she may struggle less than others being added to a roster with no practice or preparation, it still would be hard. Team USA’s job is to bring home gold, and if Caitlin can not be there with the team to prepare (even though it is not her fault), that jeopardizes the mission of the team. That being said, there is obviously still a shock factor that arguably the best women's basketball player, and most followed, in years will not be representing team USA. From a financial standpoint of basketball USA, it was totally a miss. Will the USA Women's Basketball still be able to bring home gold without her?
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