Opinion: Leaving Caitlin Clark Off the Olympic Team is a Mistake
Caitlin Clark is transforming professional sports. Why on earth would anyone snub her from the international stage?
Earlier today, I wrote about news of Caitlin Clark’s absence from the US women’s Olympic basketball team. I said the Olympic Committee is making a huge mistake by not selecting her. I make my argument below.
Caitlin Clark is the tide that raises all the ships. WNBA attendance numbers from 2023-2024 prove this beyond any shadow of a doubt. Every single team in the league (except for Atlanta) has had an increase in average attendance this season. Attendance for Indiana Fever games has quadrupled since drafting Clark, from roughly 4,000 spectators in 2023 to 16,000 in 2024. This puts Clark and the Fever in contention with some NBA teams. Memphis, Charlotte, Atlanta, and Washington all saw a rough average of 16,000 fans per home game in 2024.
Aside from the attention she draws, Clark has the skill to make a case for herself. Let’s compare her per game stats to some Olympians:
Caitlin Clark
- 16.8 PTS, 6.3 AST, 5.3 REB, 89.3% FT, 32.7% 3PT on 8.7 3PA, 0.9 BLK, 1.5 STL
- 15.3 PTS, 7.3 AST, 4.0 REB, 89.7% FT, 42.1% 3PT on 3.8 3PA, 0.6 BLK, 1.4 STL. Furthermore, these stats are all from 2023. Gray hasn’t played a WNBA game in 2024 due to an injury sustained in last year’s WNBA finals.
- 12.4 PTS, 7.4 REB, 8.8 AST, 66% FT, 0% 3PT on 0 3PA, 0.7 BLK, 1.3 STL
- 19.8 PTS, 6.5 REB, 3.7 AST, 92.1% FT, 32.7% 3PT on 4.9 3PA, 0 BLK, 1.5 STL
My point is that Clark is clearly an Olympic caliber athlete. Especially in the case of someone like Chelsea Gray, how could anyone seriously argue that Clark wouldn’t be a better fit for her spot? They play the same position, and their stats are remarkably similar. Furthermore, Gray is coming off a serious injury. Clark has been playing all season. Why not give her the nod?
What separates Clark from the ladies on the team is their experience. There’s an average of 8 years total time in the WNBA between the three listed here. It’s clear that Clark’s remarkably quick rise to fame is what’s fueling the issue. According to USA Today’s Christine Brennan, two long-time veterans of women’s basketball chalked up Clark’s snub to “concern over how Clark’s millions of fans would react to what would likely be limited playing time.” Brennan calls this revelation an “extraordinary admission of the tension” within a sport that is finally receiving the attention it has so desperately coveted.
Caitlin Clark is a slam dunk, home run, and every other sports idiom rolled into a single player. The Olympic Committee is absolutely fumbling a chance to ride the momentum even higher. The US women’s Olympic team is almost certain to win gold again this year, as they’ve done in every Olympics since 2000. There is no argument that can justify not giving Clark a spot on the roster and letting her at least play some garbage time. What will happen now is an endless onslaught of speculation, of people asking why Clark isn’t there, instead of a celebration of the supreme caliber of America’s female athletes.
What is happening here is an error in brand management. Caitlin Clark brings eyes to women’s basketball to a degree that no other athlete has been able to so far. Clark has already focused American attention on women’s basketball. This is the biggest chance yet to bring the world’s attention on it. Snubbing potential interest from the Olympics removes potential interest from other athletes who deserve recognition. Everything suffers- jersey sales, viewers, and brand image.
Clark deserves to be an Olympian. Her level of talent and prestige is what women’s sports needs to capitalize on. She has the skill. She has the stardom. She’s likable. The Olympic Committee is undoubtedly going to make a winning team. Its mistake lies in valuing the input of the old guard over what is the future of their sport. It will be a long four years until the Olympics roll around again, and by then, I hope the Committee makes better decisions.
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