The exclusion of Caitlin Clark from the Olympics Team USA has given rise to fury among her fans and many other prominent sports voices. They scathingly posited that the selection committee overlooked the prospect of bringing more eyeballs to women’s hoops. On the flip side, renowned sports commentator, Dan Patrick, believes that Clark wasn’t exactly snubbed as she is not better than anyone on the current roster. He even rolled out a name that has a better case than CC.
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Patrick opened his monologue by observing that popularity shouldn’t be a metric to replace someone in an Olympic team.
He also pointed out that since Clark has been playing high-pressure basketball for more than 10 months, she could take advantage of a one-month WNBA pause to let off some steam. He expressed,
“If you want to have Caitlin on the roster then who are you taking off? And how do you tell that person ‘hey we want to have the popular girl on’? And Caitlin Clark has been playing basketball for 10 consecutive months. She could use a break.”
Later, he also posited that if there is someone who should sulk over her non-selection, it has to be Dallas Wings’ volume scorer Arike Ogunbowale, who is putting up 26.4 points per game and is just second to A’ja Wilson in WNBA’s PPG leaders. Patrick added,
“If anyone has a gripe being snubbed it’s Arike Ogunbowale… If you’re taking somebody off and someone can’t play, she had an unbelievable year. She has earned it, four-time All-Star, she is 27, might be her only opportunity.”
"I don't think Caitlin Clark is 1 of the 12 best players right now… If you want to have Caitlin on the roster then who are you taking off? And how do you tell that person 'hey we want to have the popular girl on'?… If anyone has a gripe being snubbed it's Arike Ogunbowale." pic.twitter.com/Lhxwl0dvdR
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) June 10, 2024
Thus, the 67-year-old believes that Clark being left off the team isn’t that big of a deal. He believes that there are others who have a more persuasive case. In that wake, what does Clark herself think of the “snub”?
Caitlin Clark will work extra hard to claim her place
During a media interaction, the 22-year-old felt that not making the team as a rookie has filled her with additional motivation to improve her game. She has her eyes set on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and showed optimism in making the roster after being left out of the Paris Olympics team. Clark expressed,
“I think it just gives you something to work for. That’s a dream. Hopefully one day I can be there. I think it’s just a little more motivation”.
At the same time, she conveyed that she would be behind the USA team to clinch the gold medal, which is pretty much written on the wall. Meanwhile, her Indiana Fever coach, Christie Stevens, touched upon an intriguing angle. She disclosed that after learning about her exclusion, she told her coach, “They woke a monster”.
While including Clark in the roster would have brought much more attention, an Olympic team isn’t about handouts and has to account for the rich legacy of veterans. Apart from that, the WNBA and top members of the USA Women’s Basketball selection committee want the Fever guard to be fired up after the snub and prove that she will soon be one of the top ten players.
