The US Women’s Basketball Team has been exceptional at the Paris Olympics. They won their first two games in emphatic fashion, but not many saw them dominate in person. Attendance for Team USA’s games has been underwhelming and Gilbert Arenas believes they should have seen it coming and picked Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese to combat it.
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On the latest episode of the No Chill Gill podcast, the retired guard spoke about the shockingly low attendance in Team USA’s first two games. He claimed that fans aren’t interested in seeing the gold medal favorites in action as the roster doesn’t have a world-renowned female basketball star.
He believes the selection committee should’ve taken advantage of Clark and Reese’s unprecedented popularity to fill the stands. Arenas said,
“The fact that those two girls’ fan base is so big, you would have wanted them on the team just for viewers, for viewership… I think them [USA] vs Japan, they had about 13,000 people there. Spain vs China, 27,000. Nigeria vs Australia had 24,000. I don’t think they realize, a lot of people, from all over the world…they come to see the American stars.”
The former Wizards star added that the attendance numbers for Team USA’s games in Paris aren’t low due to a fan boycott over the young duo’s exclusion. He reiterated that the roster doesn’t boast stars that fans are excited about. Arenas isn’t the only one who believes Clark should’ve been on the flight to France.
Dawn Staley and Stephen A. Smith backed Arenas’ take on Clark
Women’s basketball icon Dawn Staley believes the rookie sensation has played well enough to earn a spot on the Team USA roster for the Paris Olympics. In an interview with NBC Sports, she said,
“Caitlin is just a rookie in the WNBA. She 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 she’s playing, she’d be in really high consideration of making the team.”
On The Stephen A. Smith Show, the host echoed the same sentiments and claimed that Clark deserved a spot on the team. He said,
“Team USA’s win over Japan only drew 13,040 fans which was the lowest attended game among the opening six matchups in group play. Four of the six opening games drew over 20,000 fans. This had some observers wondering if the presence of Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese would have the stands packed for Team USA.”
Nothing can be done to correct the selection committee’s mistakes. However, they should refrain from repeating them in the future.
