OLYMPICS
Why isn’t Caitlin Clark on the roster of the USA Women’s Olympic Basketball Team?
The Indiana Fever guard, who has just begun her professional career, has been left off the roster for the Olympics in Paris.
Caitlin Clark, the Iowa Hawkeyes legend, who started her pro career with the Indiana Fever this season, has been left off the USA Women’s Olympic Basketball Team roster for this summer’s games in Paris, according to multiple sources.
Clark, who has set women’s basketball alike with her college basketball performances, and her subsequent move to the WNBA, is not in the 12-woman squad, according to a source who provided the final squad to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The final official announcement has yet to be made.
Team USA coach Cheryl Reeve wanted more senior roster
Cheryl Reeve, of the Minnesota Lynx, is the coach for Team USA and according to a number of reports, she wanted a more senior roster, hence the decision to leave Caitlin Clark behind for the Games, which get underway on 28 July. The Clark-less Americans will play Japan, Belgium and Germany in their group stage.
The expected roster includes: five-time gold medalist Diana Taurasi and her Phoenix Mercury teammate Brittney Griner. They will be joined by Olympic veterans Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier, Jewell Loyd and Chelsea Gray and Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young, who were involved in the 3x3 triumph at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
The first-time Olympians for the U.S. will be Alyssa Thomas, Sabrina Ionescu and Kahleah Copper, though all three have international experience, being part of the American team that won the World Cup in Australia in 2022.