Many WNBA fans on social media remain angry about the exclusions of Caitlin Clark and Arike Ogunbowale from the Team USA Olympic roster.
Diana Taurasi was scoreless in Team USA’s win against Belgium in the Paris Olympics on Thursday, which added some fuel to the fire for said fans of Clark and the Dallas Wings’ top scorer Ogunbowale.
Taurasi had the most futile performance in her illustrious Olympic history. She went scoreless on 0-for-3 shooting, committed one turnover, and two fouls in 14 minutes as a starter in the Americans’ Group C victory that clinched a quarterfinal berth.
The Phoenix Mercury’s 20-year legend is now in her sixth Olympics and going for the same amount of gold medals, but that doesn’t matter to the naysayers who questioned her role on this iteration of Team USA.
“Arike and Caitlin Clark should be on this team. Diana Taurasi shouldn’t be on this team,” one fan wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Ogunbowale also caused much chatter regarding how she was snubbed from the Team USA roster following her 34-point Phoenix All-Star Game MVP performance on July 20, her second straight year winning the award. She admitted on former NFL stars Chad Ochocinco and Shannon Sharpe’s Nightcap show in June that she removed herself from consideration for Team USA selections “months ago” because she could “tell that wasn’t the type of vibe they want.”
Clark has publicized multiple times that she doesn’t resent being omitted, and was gracious for the Team USA camp invite. Before she recorded four points and 10 assists to help Team WNBA beat Team USA in the All-Star Game, Clark said she looked forward to helping Team USA prepare for Paris.
In addition, Taurasi was widely misconstrued by fans and the media as one of Clark’s biggest critics. That stemmed from Taurasi’s cautionary comments directed to Clark during the Women’s Final Four in April about her facing an adjustment period from college to the WNBA.
Hall of Famer and USWNT selection committee member Dawn Staley claimed during an Olympics interview on NBC this past Sunday that Clark’s impact on the rebuilding Indiana Fever (11-15, seventh in standings behind Mercury at No. 6) made her rethink Clark and her early season struggles when she led the league in turnovers.
Clark is Indiana’s top scorer at 17.1 points per game, leads the league at 8.2 assists and is the first WNBA rookie to record a triple-double.
“As a committee member, you’re charged with putting together the best team of players, the best talent,” Staley said. “Caitlin is just a rookie in the WNBA, wasn’t playing bad, but wasn’t playing like she’s playing now. If we had to do it all over again, the way that she’s playing, she would be in really high consideration of making the team because she is playing head and shoulders above a lot of people.
“Shooting the ball extremely well, I mean she is an elite passer, she’s just got a great basketball IQ and she’s a little more seasoned in the pro game in a couple of months than she was two months ago.”
Although the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer’s spot on the veteran-stacked Team USA roster has long been earned, that doesn’t matter to those who showed Taurasi no respect after the USA-Belgium game.
