Caitlin Clark being left off the Team USA roster for the upcoming Olympics has unsurprisingly caused quite a bit of uproar in the basketball community. Amid many voices speaking out about the move, Paul Pierce decided to chime in as well. While he did agree with the popular opinion on what should have happened here, his reasoning for it was a bit blunt and unapologetic.
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Speaking on the topic during a recent episode of the Ticket & The Truth podcast, Pierce admitted that it is not Clark’s talent that made him believe that Team USA had made a mistake by not selecting her.
According to the Celtics legend, Clark’s presence would have brought more attention to the USA Team. This would have gone a long way in growing the women’s game, providing a global advertisement for the WNBA completely free of cost. But unfortunately, the selectors dropped the ball on the opportunity.
Further, Pierce discarded the ethical dilemma around it and stressed on the fact that everything in this world has politics ingrained in it. And this was one of the times Team USA could have used it in their favor. This was a notion that Kevin Garnett also seemed to agree with completely.
Pierce said,
“You trying to grow the women’s game, whether you like it or not, this is a opportunity. US came out and said she didn’t have enough reps… I don’t care what the reps is! And I don’t care how political this is! Yeah it’s politics!… Politics come into play on everything.”
Garnett then confirmed his affirmation of his partner’s words by saying, “Politics are part of the growth [of the game]”. Clearly, the two were completely on the same page on this matter.
On the surface, it does seem harsh-Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett’s reasoning. However, a closer look into their comments reveals the ugly truth of the matter.
The NBA saw its come up in the exact same way. It marketed the rivalry of Boston Celtics and LA Lakers icons, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson to grow the league, sometimes in ways that were unfair to the rest of the league.
However, it was because of them that the league finally became profitable at the time. And by the time Michael Jordan came around, it did the exact same thing, this time to boost its global image.
To grow any sport, regardless of gender, what is required the most is viewership. And without a shadow of a doubt, Caitlin Clark would have brought exponential numbers. Instead, Team USA has indeed missed a major opportunity to grow the women’s game.
Paul Pierce isn’t the only analyst to come out in support of Caitlin Clark
Paul Pierce is not the only analyst to have taken up the viewership side of the argument on this one. Colin Cowherd also recently came out with the exact same reasoning. On The Herd, he said,
“Olympic basketball team, men’s and women’s, has always been subjective, and very political at the end of the roster. Isiah Thomas didn’t make it. Why? Michael Jordan didn’t like him. The WNBA Finals had 700,000 viewers. The draft that included Caitlin Clark, had three times as many… it’s an opportunity wasted”
While the basketball community may love to see Team USA backtrack on their decision to leave Caitlin Clark off the roster, it is extremely unlikely to happen.
