Caitlin Clark, the rookie making waves in the WNBA, won't be joining the US national team when it travels to the Paris Olympics, according to reports.
Sources close to the situation revealed that the all-time college scoring leader will be staying home, according to NBC News.
According to the source, which spoke exclusively to the broadcaster, the team will be made up of 12 veterans — meaning Clark will not be in tow.
One of the women who is said to be joining the team is Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner, who spent 10 months detained in Russia on alleged drug possession charges before she was returned to the US in a prisoner swap in December.
A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces and Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty were also named as likely teammates, according to the source.
Team USA has not officially released the list of players heading to Paris.
Clark recently played the best game of her pro career, earning 30 points and shooting seven 3-pointers in Friday night's game between the Indiana Fever and Washington Mystics.
Despite her accolades — she was named the WNBA's rookie of the month in May — Clark, like any rookie, is still perfecting her game.
She has only hit 32.7 per cent of her 3 point attempts in her short professional career, and have given up an average of five turnovers per game, which is the most in the league.
Even still, there are some who are baffled by the team's reported decision not to bring her along.
Bartsool Sports founder Dave Portnoy said the decision, if true, is the "dumbest thing I've ever heard" in a post on X.
“How dumb are these people?” Portnoy asked. “Never complain about women salaries ever again. Make that team fly commercial. Unreal dumb.”
He said Clark's performance makes watching her games "appointment TV."
“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,” he said. “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.”
Justin Termine, a Sirus XM commentator, said it was foolish not to include one of the most talked-about players in the sport at a time when the league is trying to expand its viewership, the New York Post reports.
“Even if she stinks, which she doesn’t, that’s horrible vision,” he posted.
Fox Sports host Colin Cowherd shared those sentiments, arguing that the Olympics and the league were leaving money on the table by not including Clark.
“Christian Laettner made the Dream Team. Caitlin Clark can’t make the women’s Olympic basketball team?” Cowherd wrote. “What mostly pays for the Olympics — oh wait — revenue generated from broadcasting partners. As in TV. As in Caitlin is TV GOLD. Opportunity wasted.”
Cheryl Reeve, the Minnesota Lynx coach who will also coach Team USA this summer, was reportedly the one who decided the roster should consist primarily of veteran players.
She was also critical in the preseason of the WNBA's current focus on Clark, according to the New York Post.
But generating hype by focusing on a promising newcomer to basketball has paid dividends in the past; Lebron James was making waves in the NBA world before he even graduated high school.
