hot take: caitlin clark doesn’t deserve to make the team usa roster
Now we all know Caitlin Clark has created a brand new buzz around women’s basketball that previously hasn’t existed, but does this buzz alone garner enough to qualify her a spot on a team with the best of the best of the best in the sport? Absolutely not.
The Olympic roster is not a popularity contest. The team isn’t trying to appeal to new WNBA fans or viewers, they’re trying to win a damn gold medal against the best athletes in the world. Yet somehow, these new fans feel entitled to seeing their favorite player on this 12-man roster. And the media isn’t helping to educate fans on the Olympic team selection process either. We have talk show personalities defending Clark at any opportunity they can and disrespecting those that did make the roster in the process.
The USA women’s basketball team is compiled of the 12 most talented and deserving players in the country, all of whom have had years of experience in the WNBA. And all of them have also had experience on the USA senior women’s basketball team before as well. Only three players, Alyssa Thomas, Sabrina Ionescu, and Kahleah Copper, haven’t been to the Olympics before. So it’s easy to distinguish that Clark has a noticeable lack of experience compared to the members of the roster.
Now, this isn’t to say Clark isn’t insanely talented or unworthy of making the roster EVER. She has undeniable talent that will continue to develop, but that’s the thing. She needs the time to develop. After a whirlwind college season, where she even missed the USA Training Camp due to her participation in the NCAA Final Four, she jumped straight into the WNBA Draft, training camps, and the start of season. And it’s not like the Indiana Fever have had a relaxed start to their season — they had a stretch of time where they played 11 games in 20 days, with some falling on back-to-back days. So yeah, Clark has had an intense introduction to the league.
To jump straight from an intense WNBA season, to the All Star break, to the Olympics, would further perpetuate this whirlwind start that Clark has been introduced to. If anything, I see the Olympic break as a major opportunity for her to settle down and get her head on straight for the second half of the W season. I wouldn’t be surprised if this roster “snub” helps her to break out and finish the season stronger than before. This break might be exactly what she needs to find her rhythm and regain enough strength to play with more power than before, and honestly I am so excited to see how she develops into the beast that we all know that she can become.
The thing about this topic of conversation that’s bothering me now is how the media has taken it and created a Team USA vs Caitlin Clark narrative. At this point, we’re all used to couch coaches and non-qualified fans providing their unqualified opinions about what’s happening in sports. However the way that this phenomenon has blown up has become unbearable. TV personalities are using her name for clout and clickbait, and the more absurd their arguments are, the more media attention they receive. It’s annoying and downright disrespectful to all the other insanely talented women changing the game and dominating the league. The league, and sport itself, is not about one specific player.
Don’t get me wrong, Clark is deserving of praise for her dominance in the NCAA and I am so happy that her popularity has brought an awareness to the league that should have already been there for years. But I’m tired of how the media has made all women’s basketball conversation about one player. I welcome this new era of respect for women’s basketball where the WNBA isn’t the brunt of every sexist joke, but I’m more than ready for the media to wake up and shift the conversation and offer praise to all of the women making waves in the league.
