Caitlin Clark‘s exclusion from the Team USA women’s basketball squad for the Paris Olympics was a controversial decision. Many believed that the WNBA sensation should’ve been picked for the tournament as her growing popularity could have been beneficial to attract more eyeballs for the league. While Team USA prepares to take on Japan today, a Japanese fan pulled up to the arena with a sign board which had a reminder for Team USA.
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The fan’s board warned Team USA that they can’t beat Japan without Caitlin Clark.
NBC’s reporter for the Golden State Warriors, Kerith Burke posted a clip from before the game on her X profile. In the clip, the Team USA women’s squad can be seen practicing before their matchup against Japan. In the middle of the shooting drill, A’ja Wilson spotted a Japanese fan holding a sign which read, “You need Caitlin Clark to beat us.”
Team USA 👀 a sign that reads, “You need Caitlin Clark to beat us.” USA-Japan tipping off shortly. pic.twitter.com/ymyJ6mSuXQ
— Kerith Burke (@KerithBurke) July 29, 2024
Wilson was then seen telling her teammate Brittney Griner to take a look at it as well. While the players seemed unfazed by the sign from the opposition fan, they surely took note of the message he had for them.
It seems like Team USA players took offense to the disrespectful message of the fan. By the time this report was prepared, Team USA had a 13-point lead over the Japanese as the game rested at 52-39 at halftime.
Although ineffective, but this subtle mental warfare technique from the fan is an indication that the whole world has taken notice of Team USA’s selection committee snubbing Clark of her chance to represent her country at the Paris Olympics. As of now, even Dawn Staley, a member of the selection committee, believes that a mistake was made while picking the USA squad.
Dawn Staley admits not picking Caitlin Clark was a mistake
There was a huge uproar in the media and among fans when Clark was not picked for the Team USA squad. It was surely a disastrous decision from a marketing point of view. In addition to that, including her on the team wouldn’t have hindered USA’s chances of clinching the gold as there isn’t any strong competition for them in the international arena anyway.
Recently, Staley 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.” After that admission, Shannon Sharpe, a staunch supporter of Clark, was left scratching his head in confusion.
On the recent episode of Nightcap, Unc said, “So Caitlin Clark going or Angel Reese going, were they gonna lose? We got the 10 best players in the Olympics on the Women’s side… I’m a little surprised that she [Staley] said that.” Now that it’s being acknowledged as a mistake, hopefully Caitlin will get the spot she deserves when the next major tournament comes around.
