Why Caitlin Clark Isn’t Playing For Team USA at the Paris Olympics

The roster for Team USA’s women’s basketball team was revealed several weeks ago, and millions of fans around the world were left wondering why the 

Indiana Fever ‘s rookie sensation, Caitlin Clark, was not included to play for her country. Many in basketball circles were outraged at the fact that Clark wasn’t selected for several reasons, and not just reasons pertaining to her abilities on the court.

It has long been theorized that plenty of the more seasoned players in the WNBA have become jealous of both Clark’s abilities and how she’s been able to grow the game of women’s basketball around the world.

After breaking the NCAA’s all-time scoring record for both men’s and women’s basketball during her senior season at Iowa, Clark was the presumptive No. 1 overall selection for the Fever all the way from her final collegiate game until the day of the draft on April 15. Clark has since come into the league experiencing both highs and lows as she’s been trying to become accustomed to the style of play in the best women’s basketball league in the world.

Because of her generational abilities and unbelievable shooting in college, many in the WNBA believed that Clark would receive a wake-up call very early on in her professional career, prompting the basketball community to label players such as Kelsey Plum of the Las Vegas Aces and Diana Taurasi of the Phoenix Mercury as being envious of Clark’s incredible fame. Taurasi even said herself that Clark would most likely not be the same player in the WNBA as she was in college.

Now that it’s been known for some time that Clark won’t be joining the team, it’s possible to start piecing together the story as to why she was not chosen and her contemporaries were. Even after being named a WNBA All-Star in her debut season, it still was not enough to avoid rejection.