Basketball sensation Caitlin Clark won’t be headed to the Paris Olympics, according to a person familiar with the decision.
The person, who provided the full roster to The Associated Press, spoke on condition of anonymity because no official announcement had been made at the time.
The decision was first reported by The Athletic.
Clark does have some international experience with USA Basketball at a younger level, but she couldn’t attend the national training camp in Cleveland after she was invited because she was leading Iowa to the Final Four.
Clark finished her career as the NCAA’s Division I all-time scoring leader.
Clark, now a rookie with the Indiana Fever, has drawn millions of new fans to women’s basketball in her college career and also in her young WNBA career.
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy called the decision to leave her out of the Olympics “the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard” in a tweet that had been liked more than 40,000 times overnight, taking aim at advocates for fair pay in women’s sport.
“How dumb are these people?” Portnoy said.
“I’d rather watch grass grow, I’d rather watch paint dry. I’d rather watch dirt just be moved around because Caitlin Clark is not on the team.
“If she’s there, it’s appointment TV. You people, whoever did this, take your brain, put it in a museum and study it for how dumb you are.”
Former NFL quarterback turned sport pundit Robert Griffin III posted that people needed to “stop crying” over Clark being left out of the squad.
“Caitlin Clark is clearly the most popular women’s basketball player in the world,” he said in a video posted to X.
“But she is not better than or earned the opportunity more to be on the team than the women who were selected.
“The US women’s national team will win the gold medal with or without Caitlin Clark even if fewer people watch it (because Clark’s not on the team).”
While Clark won’t be headed to Paris, the US is expected to take five-time gold medallist Diana Taurasi for a sixth Olympics. Taurasi will be joined by Phoenix Mercury teammate Brittney Griner.
This will be Griner’s first time playing internationally since she was detained in a Russian prison for 10 months in 2022. She said she’ll only play abroad with USA Basketball.
Joining the pair will be Olympic veterans Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier, Jewell Loyd and Chelsea Gray. Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young, who helped the US win the inaugural 3×3 gold medal at the Tokyo Games in 2021, also will be on the team.
A bunch of first-time Olympians will join the team with Alyssa Thomas, Sabrina Ionescu and Kahleah Copper. All three played on the American team that won the World Cup in Australia in 2022.
The US women have won every gold medal in women’s basketball since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Taurasi, who turns 42 before the Paris Games, will break the record for most Olympics played in the sport of basketball. Five players, including former teammate Sue Bird, have competed in five.
The US team will train together for a few days in Phoenix in July. Then it’s off to London for an exhibition game against Germany before heading to France.
The Americans will play Japan, Belgium and Germany in pool play at the Olympics.
AP/ABC
Sports content to make you think… or allow you not to. A newsletter delivered each Saturday.