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Yes, people in and around USA Basketball realize that it’s easy to second-guess the decision to leave Caitlin Clark off the Olympic team.
South Carolina head coach and USA Basketball selection committee member Dawn Staley said Sunday that Clark’s recent play had made a strong case for her inclusion in the Olympics. Clark was the most high-profile omission from the women’s team when it was announced on June 11.
“As a committee member, you’re charged with putting together the best team of players, the best talent,” Staley said in an interview with NBC’s Mike Tirico. “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.”
Dawn Staley, a member of the USWNT selection committee, asked about Caitlin Clark.
“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.” pic.twitter.com/hMYqTsPWzc
— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) July 28, 2024
The women’s team for the Paris Olympics is comprised of many WNBA and USA Basketball veterans like Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner, Breanna Stewart and A’Ja Wilson, while Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young are on the team after playing in 3×3 basketball in Tokyo three years ago.
As Staley noted in her comments, Clark was still in a bit of an adjustment period in her rookie WNBA season when the team was officially announced. After starring at Iowa, Clark was the No. 1 pick of the draft by the Indiana Fever and immediately stepped into a key role.
In nine games in May, Clark shot just 38% from the field. She’s improved significantly in June and July, however. In six July games before the WNBA’s Olympic break, Clark was shooting 43% from the field despite shooting 27% from behind the 3-point line. She’s also averaging 12.5 assists per game in those contests after averaging seven assists a game in the first two months of the season.
This isn’t Clark’s only Olympic shot, however. She figures to be a mainstay on USA Basketball teams going forward given the way she’s now playing in the pros. And there’s also an argument that Clark needed a break from competitive basketball. Clark’s first regular-season WNBA game came on May 14, just over a month after she played the final game of her Iowa career on April 7 in the national title game.
