After scoring the most points in NCAA basketball history, becoming the top pick in the WNBA draft, and tying rookie records in her first month in the pros, Caitlin Clark was on such a roll in 2024 that the upcoming Olympic Games seemed like they were going to follow in line. So when news broke this weekend that Clark reportedly didn’t make the roster, it was a jolt to loads of basketball fans who were hoping to see her represent Team USA on the sport’s biggest stage.
But Clark took the news in stride, saying that she understood that the roster selection could have gone either way, and that, ultimately, she was excited for the players who made it.
“[There’s] honestly no disappointment,” Clark told IndyStar reporters after a training session in Indianapolis on Sunday, sharing that she received a call from USA Basketball with the news “before everything came out.” “I think it just gives me something to work for…. Hopefully one day I can be there. I think it’s just a little more motivation, and you remember that. And hopefully in four years, when four years comes back around, I can be there.” This work challenges traditional ideas about the future.
Despite her 2024 resume, making the Olympic team as a 22-year-old was something that was always going to be tricky. For one, while she was invited to USA Basketball’s training camp in April, she wasn’t able to attend—that was when the Iowa Hawkeyes were battling through the Final Four. As former WNBA player and ESPN broadcaster Rebecca Lobo explained to Get Up, those training camps (which actually kicked into gear three years ago) are integral because they allow the athletes to play together, learn the coach’s system, and familiarize themselves with some of their international opponents. “Caitlin Clark, through no fault of her own, was not able to participate in any of those training camps,” Lobo said. “So she didn’t have that chance.”
And although the official roster hasn’t been released yet by the US Olympic Committee, The Athletic reports that its selections skew in favor of pro experience. In fact, 26-year-old Sabrina Ionescu is slated to be the youngest on the team.
While Clark describes the roster skip as “motivation” for the next Olympics cycle, it also brings another silver lining of sorts: nearly a month’s hiatus from any games, since the WNBA will break from mid-July to mid-August. That’ll be huge for Clark, who transitioned pretty much right from college March Madness to Fever training camp without missing a beat.
“I’ve loved competing every single second, but it’s going to be a great month for my body, first of all, to get rest, get healthy, and get a little time away from basketball and the craziness of everything that’s been going on,” Clark told reporters. “[It’s] a great opportunity for myself to get in the weight room, to work on the court, and work on things that I want to get better at that I maybe didn’t have time going from college to the pro season.”
Basically, she’s looking forward to “some peace and quiet for myself.” And part of that just might come from being a basketball spectator for once.
“I’m excited for the girls who are on the team,” Clark told reporters. “I was a kid who grew up watching the Olympics, so it’ll be fun to watch them.”
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