One reason that Caitlin Clark was an appealing alternate for the women’s basketball team at the Olympics was how she handled being excluded from the roster. People wondered how Clark would react after being left off, but the highly-touted rookie took the news in stride. “I know it’s the most competitive team in the world and I know it could’ve gone either way of me being on the team,” she told reporters on June 9, per NBC News. In fact, Clark was not shocked to not make the team. “Honestly, no disappointment,” she told the press about not being named an Olympian. The Indiana Fever star was not only fine with not making Team USA, but showed support for the women who were going to the Olympics. “I’m gonna be rooting them on to win gold,” Clark added.
Not everyone shared Clark’s sentiments. In fact, the president of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, Casey Wasserman, blasted the decision to exclude Clark. “I think it’s a missed opportunity because she’s clearly a generational talent,” he said on June 22 (via USA Today). Meanwhile, the team’s selection committee chair, Jen Rizzotti, said marketing was not factored into developing the roster. “It would be irresponsible for us to talk about [Clark] in a way other than how she would impact the play of the team,” Rizzotti said on June 11, per the Associated Press.
All that discussion would be moot if Clark replaced Diana Taurasi, who had a budding rivalry with the rookie.
