Caitlin Clark, left, of Team WNBA, dribbles the ball against Kelsey Plum, right, of Team USA, during the WNBA All-Star basketball game earlier this month in Phoenix.
AP
If Dawn Staley could time travel, the most popular player in the WNBA might just be on Team USA.
The decision to leave Clark, whose popularity sent women’s college basketball and the WNBA soaring, off Team USA was met with criticism last month. Staley, a member of the team’s selection committee, told NBC’s Mike Tirico on Sunday that Clark “would be in really high consideration” if the roster were chosen today.
“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 really well.
“She is an elite passer, she’s got a great basketball IQ and she’s a little more seasoned 1722219408 in the pro game.”
That comment comes a little over a week after Clark and a WNBA all-star team made up of others who were not on the U.S. team, like Angel Reese and Arike Ogunbowale, scored a statement win, beating Team USA, 117-109.
In her rookie season with the Indiana Fever, Clark has a number of significant individual accomplishments in addition to the attendance records her team has set. They include a recent game against the Mystics in which she became the first player in the NBA or WNBA to record 29 points, 13 assists, five rebounds, five three-pointers, five steals and three blocks in a game.
The Olympic squad was announced June 11, when Clark had not yet fully adjusted to the WNBA. At that point, she was in the midst of a tough stretch of 11 games in 20 days against many of the league’s best teams. In addition to South Carolina’s Staley, a former Team USA coach, the selection committee included three-time Olympian and LSU assistant Seimone Augustus; two-time Olympian and Old Dominion Coach DeLisha Milton-Jones; Connecticut Sun team president Jennifer Rizzotti; and WNBA head of league operations Bethany Donaphin.
Asked about what many considered to be a snub, Clark, the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft, took the high road.
“I’m excited for the girls that are on the team,” she told reporters Sunday. “I know it’s the most competitive team in the world, and I know it could have gone either way — of me being on the team or me not being on the team — so I’m excited for them. I’m going to be rooting them on to win gold. I was a kid that grew up watching the Olympics, so it will be fun to watch them.
“Honestly, no disappointment. I think it just gives me something to work for. It’s a dream. Hopefully one day I can be there. I think it’s just a little more motivation. You remember that. Hopefully when four years comes back around, I can be there.”
The U.S. squad, coached by Cheryl Reeve of the Minnesota Lynx, has no players younger than 26-year-olds Sabrina Ionescu and Jackie Young. The team also features five-time gold medalist Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner (playing internationally for the first time since her 10-month detainment in Russia in 2022), Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier, Kahleah Copper, Jewell Loyd, Alyssa Thomas, Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray.
Clark said last month that she would welcome the break but planned to “work on things that I want to get better at” — including time in the weight room.
“It’s going to be really nice,” she said. “I’ve loved competing every single second, but it’s going to be a great month for my body, first of all, to get rest and get healthy and just get a little time away from basketball and the craziness of everything that’s been going on — just find some peace and quiet for myself.”
