Yep. It is marketing. Strike the iron while it is hot. Clark getting a few minutes against terrible foreign teams will put eyeballs on women's bball games in the Olympics that otherwise will not be watched.
But the olympic team thinks it knows better
Or this is part of the campaign?
If she’s on the team it’s normal and expected
But now in June we’re talking about the women’s Olympics team, that is viral marketing
Then eventually they invite her because of an injury and bam you double dipped by getting the controversial views first then the views of the actual games second
If only the WNBA marketing team was that smart, instead they attacked Luka doncic for supporting the WNBA.
The WNBA is definitely not playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers.
Some online addicts might click articles or shows on why is Caitlin Clark not there, but I think it’s very safe to say that the newer market who’s been watching because of CC will not be tuning into the games without her
People aren’t significantly watching or attending games she isn’t in, why would it be different?
Idk I feel like if people still at this point only care about one WNBA player they aren’t going to be sustainable long term fans where if they got into the game because of one player and then was able to see that there are people in the league that are even better than her it allows the increase in viewership to spread out across multiple teams and be more sustainable because they are attracting fans to the actual game
The nba has pandered to marketing and it’s destroyed the integrity of the game with a lot of fans and players. Nobody believes theyre watching a genuine product and they have a million reasons why based on things the nba has done in the past. When it stops being about competition and merit you have a tv show instead of a sport. The same people arguing for the sport to be more of a product will abandon it and lose interest sooner than those who’ve contributed to its organic growth in recent years.
To us it’s entertainment to these athletes it’s their craft. It would be disrespectful to the other ladies who have spent more time honing their craft to loss a spot in favor of someone who hasn’t done shit yet in the wnba
Craft is one thing, but this is a marketing opportunity. I don't want to hear female players bitching about low salaries or having to play in Russian leagues if they are passing up golden opportunities to expand their audience, which increases revenue
NBC is not putting the women’s team over the popular sports 1) track and field, 2) swimming, and 3) gymnastics, regardless of how popular Clark is in the WNBA. Let's be honest a big part of her appeal to new fans is because she is different outside of being extremely talented. She's a white heterosexual, midwest girl-next-door type of person, that relates with people more than they do with the other white players. She's the great white hope for a lot of people. That does a lot stateside. The rest of the world doesn't give a shit about what she did in college, or what she looks like it's all about is she an amazing player right now. Which she's not but in the future she probably be and can raise interest in the world.
> That does a lot stateside. The rest of the world doesn't give a shit about what she did in college, or what she looks like it's all about is she an amazing player right now
I don't think this is true, but it's definitely a moot point either way. NBC is not making decisions about what they put on prime time American television based on what the rest of the world thinks. The programming that will air in the US will be specifically for the US audience. Other parts of the world will see other programs. Not to mention that primetime in the US is like 1-5 AM in Europe and 6-10 AM in Asia. Even if they had one global broadcast, they're not going to be concerned with what the tiny international audience watching TV at that time thinks.
This makes zero sense. A small group of people on the women's Olympic committee make a decision that you don't agree with, and therefore you think WNBA players who are not on this committee (and when Dave portnoy made a very similar comment after this news he was referencing women writ large), they should not be able to complain about their working conditions?
Why on earth do WNBA players have to own a decision made by an Olympic committee for which they have no agency on? That makes about as much sense as you having to own it because you're from America.
Thats only a small part of their argument on compensation. The actual crux of it is that they don’t get shared revenue deals like their male counterparts. Even if the merch sales are shit, they don’t see a penny.
The players aren’t a monolith. Some will complain about the lack of money the league makes. Others will complain about a rookie being crowned as SheJesus before she’s done anything 🤷♂️
And to add, those that want more money generated probably don’t want to sacrifice the integrity of the game for a, and I hate to repeat myself, a regular rookie
>I don't want to hear female players bitching about low salaries or having to play in Russian leagues if they are passing up golden opportunities to expand their audience
Which players have done that in the past and are responsible for choosing the Olympic team?
"Hasn't done shit yet in the WBNA"
Besides being 17th in the league in PPG and 4th in APG AS A ROOKIE? Lol For context thats slightly worse than Lebron in his rookie season for points and MUCH higher for assists.
I mean her rookie season isn’t even over yet these are not accomplishments lol and it’s not a knock against her at all to say that because these stats you’re talking about are from the first 15 games of her rookie year, which are the only professional games she has played so far. No basketball player WNBA or NBA is going to be considered as having accomplished something based off of stats like these over 15 games their rookie season. I mean should Ben Simmons have gotten a team USA invite bc he went on that undefeated run his rookie season? I bet you he was top 5 in apg that year too lol and that would’ve been for an entire season not 15 games
Like bro she has an illustrious college career why do we need to try to mythologize her brand new wnba career, its okay that she’s not immediately 2016 Curry
Well... might not be the best example. He's australian... and was selected for (never played for various reasons) for the Australian national team since he was a young teenager...
The NBA does it all the time and it actually helps the players. Anthony Davis brings up his Olympic experience all the time it helped make him into the super star he is today. Imagine Caitlin spending a month with the best most professional athletes in the sport. Not only does Caitlin Clark playing bring more eyeballs but it helps her mature into the face of the league.
I think the Olympics is for the athletes before anyone else. You represent your country because you’re the best your country has to offer. It’s not about views
They are gonna get views no matter what. It’s the freaking Olympics. You root for your home country. Basketball is a team sport sport. The first NBA Olympic team was amazing I’m a NY’er yes I loved seeing Patrick Ewing out there but I really enjoyed the whole team. She’ll get her chance. Yes the men and women are dominate already. I seriously doubt there will be more eyeballs watching the freaking OLYMPICS just because she’s there. 100/200 meter dash. It was great seeing Usain Bolt but he’s no longer there and I’m still
Going to watch. Root for any Americans in the heats don’t know them well but I sure will be cheering them on. I say that to say once Usain wasn’t there it was still the premier event. That’s why it’s on the last day (or couple of days of the Olympics)
These people acting like they will actually watch or give a chance to anyone other than Clark lol. So disingenuous. It's not "growing the game" when these people are just going in with the intention of watching Clark and no one else.
Eh i actually like Bomani Jones take better. He said just sending her for views/ratings is a bad precedent to start and would also make most of the team hate her if they dont think she actually earned it. He suggested having her do a bunch of tv appearances for the olympics talking about the womens team though. You still get her face out there without being on the team.
So they should take the spot away from someone else who deserves it more? The Olympic team selection is a years long process, just giving someone a charity spot based on TV ratings isn’t the right move in my opinion
How would it look though if they took CK because of viewership instead of her talent?
It would be doing her a huge disservice honestly and make a bit of a mockery of the whole thing. She's be torn to bits if she was recruited to the team because of her drawing power.
What's next, putting women on teams because they hot?
They should go off skill and nothing else. She will get her time.
It’s not instead of her talent it’s in combination with her talent. There’s no world where putting the NCAA all team leading scorer on the Olympic team is a mockery of the sport
I’m assuming this is sarcasm since Christian Laettner was on the 92 dream team.
I think Clark is much closer to the worst player on this women’s Olympic roster than Laettner was to the best player he replaced on the 92 dream team.
Laettner was selected as a nod to the tradition when only college athletes could play basketball in the Olympics. This wouldn’t be the reason to select Clark.
While I think more people would’ve watched to see Clark in the Olympics than to see people talk non stop about how she isn’t there ultimately the WNBA is getting a boost from her during regular season games.
It’s fine for the WNBA to select other players and she’ll likely be in the next one
Agreed. But would they also have to play her? Like if they take her and don't feature her, is that negative attention? Idk the answer, but I had the same reaction - they ALWAYS win, why wouldn't they want the publicity?
This team has such a good range of players to make them dominant. They went against Japan for gold last Olympics and they were actually a really skilled fast paced team, but BG dominated the game because of her size.
> They went against Japan for gold last Olympics and they were actually a really skilled fast paced team, but BG dominated the game because of her size
I remember being impressed with that Japanese team. Undersized but voraciously scrappy with good shooting.
Barring injuries yeah. The last notable snub was Ogwumike in Tokyo. MVP winner, one of the best defenders in the league, and they left her off for a questionable injury in favour of Napheesa Collier even though she trained with them and played at all the FIBA events. I know a lot of people are only just starting to follow the WNBA but USA Basketball has a much more checkered history with the women's team compared to the men's.
The most headscratching part is that snubbing vets for unproven rookies is actually really common with USA Basketball. You can criticise that all you want (and fair enough) but it's absurd that they'd stop that practice now when the rookie in question is the greatest prospect of all time.
It’s kind of surprising how the men’s foreign teams have gotten so much better since the Dream Team but the women’s teams still get absolutely pummeled by the US.
Yeah and the last time the men lost was 2004 until this most recent Olympics where they lost a game (and before 2004, you'd have to go back to 1988). The world is catching up and is better than ever. The US doesn't dominate by putting whoever out there anymore, and even so, idk why you wouldn't put the best players on the team. Might as well put livvy dunne on the gymnastics team then
Internet 3.0
Edit: it would be so cool if some web-journalist formulated an article based on your comment.
An article inspired by a Reddit comment about a reddit post about a tweet about an article about another article.
I feel like people are also forgetting the crazy amount of minutes she’s racked up. Full NCAA season with practically no break, right into rookie WNBA season. Would be much better to not play at the Olympics
The ‘protect Caitlin’ argument feels patronizing. Even as a bench player, the high-stakes Olympic experience would aid her development more than doing commercials and winding down for a couple weeks.
Reasonable take from Durant. Clark hasn't done anything to prove herself in the pros yet. Like he said she's 22....if she ends up as good as advertised she'll still be at the Olympics 3 or 4 times during her career.
And if someone wants to say "what about Laettner? He was on the team before he proved himself" I think it was dumb for team USA to do that back then too.
> And if someone wants to say "what about Laettner? He was on the team before he proved himself" I think it was dumb for team USA to do that back then too.
As was said Laettner was included for sentimental reasons. It was basically a nod to the fact that the USA couldn't send pros to the Olympics until the Dream Team and including a collegiate star would appease the traditionalists.
Davis was picked due to the lack of depth for American bigs in the NBA at the time. And injuries.
Howard and Bosh would have been the main two options at the 5 but were both injured.
They just went with Tyson Chandler as the starting center. And Blake Griffin and Kevin Love were the back up centers despite being undersized.
Blake got injured so Davis replaced him.
Garnett and Duncan should probably have been picked over Davis but I guess they refused. Outside of them, I can't really think of anyone notable. Maybe Bynum? Not sure if he was injured at the time though.
By the way, USA played small ball and one of LeBron,KD or Melo played the 4 mostly.
Yea man I’m gonna have to admit the L here I really thought I remembered AD being picked because they were taking a college player to ride the bench and get a future superstar familiar with all the other superstars. He obviously was never going to play in crunch time even if all the centers fouled out Lol the USA had Lebron, kd, and Kobe in their primes
Edit: but after googling, turns out I misremembered and that only happened cause of injuries… TIL
Technically the Redeem Team was 2008 and AD played in 2012.
I only know this because I loved the documentary about the Redeem Team and 2008 seemed too early for AD soni Googled it.
it was a special case because the dreamteam's architects at usa basketball felt ncaa was so historically important that it'd be wrong not to include 1x player. so they picked the one with inarguably the best ncaa career, though Shaq & Alonzo Mourning clearly better players.
I mean, that’s pretty fair. Take one of the best college player to the olympics so he’s accustomed to the USA system and be a leader before he even turns 23
They were not doing it for Laettner's benefit in any way and he certainly wasn't being molded to be a leader around Michael Jeffrey Jordan, Barkley, Magic, and Bird. Laettner has talked about his time on the team. His leadership never comes up for a reason.
Yep. It was a pretty simple selection. They wanted a college player, and Laettner was coming off one of the most successful college careers ever. 4 Final Four appearances and 2 championships.
This stat almost defies belief: back when the tourney was 64 teams, the most career games a player could appear in was 24 (4 years, max 6 per year). Laettner played in 23, and won 21 of them.
The only reason Laettner made the team was because the people behind US basketball made a rule that at least one college player had to be on the Olympic team.
Anytime I watch Fever games she was chased by two defenders like watching Steph, she has been double teamed historical rate. Numbers are not great, but her skills stretch the defense.
I do wonder, because like you say, her numbers are not great, if its actually worth it to guard her like that, at least until she proves that she deserves to be guarded like that. Selling out on a player shooting 38% from the field and 32% from three just doesn't feel like it's the right play. I guess the logic is the team is the rest of the team is so bad, you can afford to, but still.
Yeah they need to move tf on from Christie Sides sooner rather than later. Also a good chunk of the existing roster aside from CC, Boston and Mitchell. I've only watched a few Fever games but their offensive flow has been woeful from what I've seen.
Locker room is cooked too, some of her teammates’ friends have talked shit about CC on social media. They’ll need substantial roster/coaching overhauls in the offseason.
Who has talked shit on Clark?
I don't see the point in dumping players because of what their friends have said. If they can play then they can help the team. Clark doesn't need to overreact. She can let her play speak for itself.
It’s not her rest of team is bad Aliyah Boston is perfect partner for her. I feel like it’s the defense and chemistry. Once they figure out they will be competing against better teams. They also need a big someone who is 6’7
Look at Taurasi's numbers. Her shooting splits are basically identical to Clark's. There is quite a few stars in the WNBA with not so stellar shooting splits.
Taurasi (42) is as old as Kareem, Mutombo, and Udonis Haslem when they retired. She’s old enough to be Caitlin Clark’s mom.
She also plays for a much better team and gets easier shots
You can literally look up Taurasi’s stats and see this isn’t true. Taurasi has a career average of 36%+ from 3 and had multiple seasons shooting 38%+ from 3 on high volume
If you mean just Taurisi’s rookie year then yes, they are similar
And this season she's shooting 39/35/87 for her splits compared to Clark who is shooting 38/33/91.
If people are going to argue Clark's numbers are not good enough to warrant a spot it's fair to ask how Taurasi's are when again they are basically the same.
There's obviously more to it than just shooting splits, but we are talking about a women's national team who hasn't lost a game in the Olympics ever and whose average margin of victory is something like 30 points. Having Clark on the team would have guaranteed eye balls on the games. She's the biggest draw, we have easily the best team, to leave her off is silly when she could bring so much more attention to women's basketball.
The numbers aren’t great, but by and large the WNBA all have lower shooting splits. People like Kelsey plum, taurasi, ionescu all have similar percentages
Why are we talking about Laettner.
The US has taken other college players or first year rookies (since Clark technically did play a few WNBA games) before who had never played professionally otherwise. Players such as Anthony Davis, Diana Taurasi, and Breanna Stewart. They even kicked Candace Parker off the team in favor of Stewart.
In the women you mentioned case, they had experience with the senior team before being selected. That doesn't excuse the Candace Parker snub for Stewie though (it's rumored that she and Geno have issues that's why she was left off that team).
Caitlin doesn't have prior International experirence.
What you're ignoring is the WNBA has taken a rookie every time since like 2000. That's including Taurasi.
Her being on the team wouldn't be like Laettner. She has comparable numbers to other people that were selected over her so if she had been included it isn't like you could point and say she doesn't deserve it and she stole a spot. She's the most popular draw and wouldn't hinder Team USA from dominating the Olympics like they have since their induction. It is silly for them to leave her off when she is easily the biggest draw to the sport right now.
I mean she is having a really good rookie year. She is averaging 16 pts 5 rebs and 6 assists. She is fourth in the league in assists. And is a top 20 scorer already. People are just focusing on all this extra stuff around her and trying to get to say she is struggling or having a bad year. When the truth is she playing pretty well and not struggling anymore than your average rookie.
I feel like people are absolutely trying to build a "struggling" narrative around her. She's playing pretty good. She's not absolutely dominating like she did in NCAA, but she's in no way disappointing either. I guess they just need something to talk about. Which you'd think they would have plenty with her already.
She's doing well, but any "struggle" you hear is because for some people who had no knowledge of the W thought she was winning MVP and making all WNBA First Team right off the bat.
Essentially, they thought she ws going to do the exact thing that she did in Iowa, which was unfair to her and an indirect jab at the quality of the WNBA. She's handling herself fine.
Wemby was straight up booed in vegas& the crowd was chanting “Hit me baby one more time” because of how mad they were that he didn’t live up to the impossible expectations the league, media, and Spurs FO(not pop) set for him
Folks really need to understand that these rookies may take a little bit to get the hang of things
Just an FYI. Kevin Durant was invited to try out for the team when he was 19. Seems a little hypocritical to say she shouldn’t get the same sort of treatment.
if it involves basketball, KD is interested. ive seen videos of him just showing up to random high school games and watching like hes a parent or something, not to mention the recent clip of him practicing his jumper in the middle of a club. the nba should definitely bring him on as some type of brand ambassador after he retires, man lives and breathes basketball
There's a video of somebody coming up to Kevin Durant at the last Olympics and it's a girl from the Australian basketball team and she wants a signature and he tells her oh you're going to have a lot of trouble this year because your star player just got injured a few days ago.
He knew without any preparation the injury report of the Australian women's basketball team lmao.
Yep 100%. The majority of people arguing about Clark being “snubbed” don’t watch the W, because she’s full of potential but is also not a top-12 player, which is how many slots there are.
Edit: Clark is currently:
17th in PPG,
4th in APG,
29th in RPG,
26th in SPG,
15th in BPG,
25th in 3P% (minimum 3 attempts per game),
32nd in TS% (minimum 10 games played),
1st in Turnovers per game,
33rd in PER (minimum 10 games played),
11th in USG%
So no, she is not deserving a spot on the Olympic team.
The supporting cast wasn’t that mediocre. They were still stacked with all-stars. It’s just that most of those all-stars were playing like shit aside from KD, Holiday, and Lavine in moments.
Compared to 2008 and 2012 it was mediocre. Most of the top guys didn’t play like Steph, Lebron, harden Westbrook. Those 08, and 12 teams had the absolute best players in the league
Durant averages double Melo’s points, has two tournament MVPs to Melo’s zero, and beats him for #1 all time scoring by 100 points and will likely keep extending the gap this year.
Melo was great in Olympic basketball no doubt, but I think people slightly overrate how good he was. KD has more points in Olympic basketball than Melo in much fewer games. He’s also been the leading scorer on 3 different Olympic teams. Melo was never the leading scorer on even one I’m believe.
Agree with KD.
3 years ago I remember people asking for Sabrina Ionescu as she was coming hot off college and had amazing shooting performances but she was snubbed. Now she got her spot at the team.
Lord have mercy. It's her rookie year. She'll be fine and so will the exceptionally talented team that we're fielding. There will be plenty more opportunities for her and all the other exceptionally talented rookies that didn't make the cut this go round
> I still think there's proper steps you have to take in our world to be considered an Olympian.
Those steps are whatever we want them to be. Every Men's Olympic Basketball team has had their reasons for bringing who they brought it and there has never been a defined metric by which one becomes an olympian or not.
CC could just as easily been on this team as she was left off. I'm not even a proponent of CC making the olympics, but I just think this whole discourse about it is so off putting because stuff like what KD is saying here is making it seem like there is some step she has to go through when in reality, they just didn't want her. Its as simple as that. Just like the dream team didn't want Isiah Thomas either.
There are some proper steps like the training camp she missed because of the tournament. The women's team also played qualifiers together a few months ago so they have continuity compared to the men's who have to send different rosters.
While it's reasonable not to have selected Clark from a basketball standpoint, it certainly wouldn't have been crazy to select her either.
Previously, four WNBA rookies - **Rebecca Lobo in 1996, Diana Taurasi in 2004, Candace Parker in 2008 and Breanna Stewart in 2016** – have been selected for Team USA's Olympic rosters.
Lobo avg 12 pts on 43% TS | Taurasi avg 17 points on 51% TS during their rookie seasons.
Clark is avg 16/5/6 on 56% TS. She has the 4th highest TS% among guards who are in the top 20 in league scoring.
From a business standpoint its idiotic not to have selected her. Christine Brennan from USA Today who has covered woman's sports and the olympics for decades explains this much better than I could. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDB9nXG87oY&t=648s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDB9nXG87oY&t=648s)
I don’t think anyone is arguing for it based on having earned it. It’s that it would be extraordinarily good for *marketing*. That’s why it’s a dumb decision. They’ll win gold either way.
If we go by merit over other factors, Taurasi shouldn't be on the team. There's like 4 other players that deserve it over her for merit reasons. She's just a legacy pick. I think obviously KD isn't going to go after her like that, because she is a legend, but for this year alone, definitely not one of the deserving picks.
idk there’s merit beyond counting stats, too. She’s a vet with a lot of winning experience in the olympics and reps with the international squad. They probably considered that.
Taurasi is also team captain. Like, the other players there respect her, she's the leader of that team.
She also has a very good argument as the GOAT of women's basketball.
And it is just so annoying to see so many people shit on her going for a historic gold because they started following five minutes ago and their fave got left off
I think you could also take a player like Clark so she could be prepared more in 2028 assuming she makes the team in the next Olympics. Also, given the importance of 3 point shooting, one could say that Clark could make the team as a role player. Granted her efficiency isn't high as of right now but she won't be getting as much defensive attention a stacked team like USA.
It wouldn't be the first time a WNBA rookie makes it either. Lobo (1996), Taurasi in 2004, Parker in 2008, and Breanna Stewart in 2016.
It has nothing to do with being reasonable or what’s “correct”
The Dream Team literally globalized the NBA
These women (who have been complaining FOR YEARS) FINALLY have an opportunity to get views, money, attention
But they are so jealous and spiteful they can’t see past their nose
Caitlin on the team = double maybe triple the attention
Fair or unfair.. who cares, get the attention while it’s hot
They’re going to push fans away and maybe Clark away
I’m already starting to root for their failure after all the shit they’ve been pulling on her
She needs to walk away for a while and let them starve
"these women"
You are conflating the small group of people on the women's Olympic committee with all female basketball players in the WNBA and it is ridiculous on its face.
Edit: oh I see your comment history explains everything. You're a total misogynist.
Come on now. You’re out of your mind if you think Caitlin Clark is gonna have the same global impact as Prime Michael Jordan, Magic, Bird, Chuck et al.
Oh, no ... Not at all .... But it's definitely going to have positive impact by having her on the team
The viewers alone would be worth it
And she's not garbage, she's easily ROY and could be on the team
It's an easy BUSINESS decision
The committee responsible for the 92 Dream Team also wanted representation from the amateur league, so they included Laettner from Duke. Bird (played 2 games) and Magic were also retired/about to. US was going to sweep anyways - can't deny that a major purpose of the '92 Olympics was to grow the sport.
Regardless of how you may feel about his choices/ demeanor, KD is undoubtedly one of the greatest basketball minds out there, and he had always had a lot of knowledge and respect for the women's game. If that's what he says, I personally trust him.
100% of what makes this girl annoying is her fans. Every time I read a thread about this chick I quickly come to the conclusion her fans are just unstable assholes who are literally just pretending to like basketball.
If CC was on the team I would tune in. She’s not playing so I won’t watch any games. She has that type of pull. Similar to when the Warriors came into the scene, you just wanted to watch them play
Wnba needs people to watch them. There's literally no better way to get more viewers than to put CC on the team as the 12th woman and give her minutes when they're up big. The iron is hot right now. Now is the time to take advantage. Not in four years when she's actually ready but a fraction of the attention is on her.
Why is this a thing? She's a rookie. I think that itself settle most arguments unless you are Wemby. Yeah some may think she's good enough, but the lack of experience alone almost justify to exclude her regardless of all other factors.
I also can't believe what I read - because of views? Is this what it has come down to? I guess it's capitalism at its finest lol. This is such a disrespect to the game. This should be about winning, period.
Is it because she's a white woman? Man US is a weird place.
fun fact of the day: the last time the US women's olympic baskeball team lost a game was 1992.
This is why I find myself agreeing with Stephen A. on this one. What they need isn’t wins (they’ve always dominated). They need views.
Yep. It is marketing. Strike the iron while it is hot. Clark getting a few minutes against terrible foreign teams will put eyeballs on women's bball games in the Olympics that otherwise will not be watched. But the olympic team thinks it knows better
Or this is part of the campaign? If she’s on the team it’s normal and expected But now in June we’re talking about the women’s Olympics team, that is viral marketing Then eventually they invite her because of an injury and bam you double dipped by getting the controversial views first then the views of the actual games second
Playing both sides so they always come out on top!
We got played !
+1. I can see commentators commenting about her in every bball game.
More likely she doesn’t join and no matter how much they try to hype it, viewership stays flat. Won’t stop them from bullshitting why
If only the WNBA marketing team was that smart, instead they attacked Luka doncic for supporting the WNBA. The WNBA is definitely not playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers.
I'll save this comment right here for if she actually gets nominated, but I really don't think the first half works at all without the second
What happens if nobody gets injured? Tonya Harding scenario?
Some online addicts might click articles or shows on why is Caitlin Clark not there, but I think it’s very safe to say that the newer market who’s been watching because of CC will not be tuning into the games without her People aren’t significantly watching or attending games she isn’t in, why would it be different?
Idk I feel like if people still at this point only care about one WNBA player they aren’t going to be sustainable long term fans where if they got into the game because of one player and then was able to see that there are people in the league that are even better than her it allows the increase in viewership to spread out across multiple teams and be more sustainable because they are attracting fans to the actual game
The nba has pandered to marketing and it’s destroyed the integrity of the game with a lot of fans and players. Nobody believes theyre watching a genuine product and they have a million reasons why based on things the nba has done in the past. When it stops being about competition and merit you have a tv show instead of a sport. The same people arguing for the sport to be more of a product will abandon it and lose interest sooner than those who’ve contributed to its organic growth in recent years.
To us it’s entertainment to these athletes it’s their craft. It would be disrespectful to the other ladies who have spent more time honing their craft to loss a spot in favor of someone who hasn’t done shit yet in the wnba
It’s a sport. This isn’t the equity Olympics, it’s the Olympics Olympics.
Craft is one thing, but this is a marketing opportunity. I don't want to hear female players bitching about low salaries or having to play in Russian leagues if they are passing up golden opportunities to expand their audience, which increases revenue
Wnba doesn’t pick the olympic team.
Nor will the women's Olympics be in television. They might get a few but gymnastics takes prime time slots along with track and field
The Women's Olympic team is normally on TV anyways. This is the Olympics, they broadcast every sport
They coulda got some prime time if Clark was on the team
They will if Clark is on the team
NBC is not putting the women’s team over the popular sports 1) track and field, 2) swimming, and 3) gymnastics, regardless of how popular Clark is in the WNBA. Let's be honest a big part of her appeal to new fans is because she is different outside of being extremely talented. She's a white heterosexual, midwest girl-next-door type of person, that relates with people more than they do with the other white players. She's the great white hope for a lot of people. That does a lot stateside. The rest of the world doesn't give a shit about what she did in college, or what she looks like it's all about is she an amazing player right now. Which she's not but in the future she probably be and can raise interest in the world.
> That does a lot stateside. The rest of the world doesn't give a shit about what she did in college, or what she looks like it's all about is she an amazing player right now I don't think this is true, but it's definitely a moot point either way. NBC is not making decisions about what they put on prime time American television based on what the rest of the world thinks. The programming that will air in the US will be specifically for the US audience. Other parts of the world will see other programs. Not to mention that primetime in the US is like 1-5 AM in Europe and 6-10 AM in Asia. Even if they had one global broadcast, they're not going to be concerned with what the tiny international audience watching TV at that time thinks.
This makes zero sense. A small group of people on the women's Olympic committee make a decision that you don't agree with, and therefore you think WNBA players who are not on this committee (and when Dave portnoy made a very similar comment after this news he was referencing women writ large), they should not be able to complain about their working conditions? Why on earth do WNBA players have to own a decision made by an Olympic committee for which they have no agency on? That makes about as much sense as you having to own it because you're from America.
As if the women themselves are the ones in charge of picking who makes the team lol
Thats only a small part of their argument on compensation. The actual crux of it is that they don’t get shared revenue deals like their male counterparts. Even if the merch sales are shit, they don’t see a penny.
The players aren’t a monolith. Some will complain about the lack of money the league makes. Others will complain about a rookie being crowned as SheJesus before she’s done anything 🤷♂️ And to add, those that want more money generated probably don’t want to sacrifice the integrity of the game for a, and I hate to repeat myself, a regular rookie
But she’s not a regular rookie. She’s the biggest name in woman’s basketball at the moment.
>I don't want to hear female players bitching about low salaries or having to play in Russian leagues if they are passing up golden opportunities to expand their audience Which players have done that in the past and are responsible for choosing the Olympic team?
"Hasn't done shit yet in the WBNA" Besides being 17th in the league in PPG and 4th in APG AS A ROOKIE? Lol For context thats slightly worse than Lebron in his rookie season for points and MUCH higher for assists.
I mean her rookie season isn’t even over yet these are not accomplishments lol and it’s not a knock against her at all to say that because these stats you’re talking about are from the first 15 games of her rookie year, which are the only professional games she has played so far. No basketball player WNBA or NBA is going to be considered as having accomplished something based off of stats like these over 15 games their rookie season. I mean should Ben Simmons have gotten a team USA invite bc he went on that undefeated run his rookie season? I bet you he was top 5 in apg that year too lol and that would’ve been for an entire season not 15 games Like bro she has an illustrious college career why do we need to try to mythologize her brand new wnba career, its okay that she’s not immediately 2016 Curry
Well... might not be the best example. He's australian... and was selected for (never played for various reasons) for the Australian national team since he was a young teenager...
Have you maybe thought about looking at her usage rate and her FGA?
It’s not a WNBA all star game.
The NBA does it all the time and it actually helps the players. Anthony Davis brings up his Olympic experience all the time it helped make him into the super star he is today. Imagine Caitlin spending a month with the best most professional athletes in the sport. Not only does Caitlin Clark playing bring more eyeballs but it helps her mature into the face of the league.
Exactly . AD talked about this . It’s stupid they didn’t follow this model it benefits everyone
I’m not sure the Olympic basketball team cares about NBCs ratings.
Why is it on an Olympic team to care about and push ratings? They’re there to play basketball
They're not dominating the international competition anymore - FIBA World Cup the score was 81-79 and the US only won bc of a clutch Stewie 3
If Olympics operated under this logic Logan Paul would be representing team USA for boxing
I think the Olympics is for the athletes before anyone else. You represent your country because you’re the best your country has to offer. It’s not about views
Are you really supporting women’s basketball if you only care about one player
So who should the kick off the team that has been working to get there by being involved in international play and camps so she can sit on the bench
Taurasi. 42 years, performance clearly has faded. Has won 5 Olympics gold, 3 world championship gold. Storied, legendary career.
Then Arike Ogunbowale would be up next
You have not been watching Taurasi play this year.
Exactly. She is aggressive and has a bag. She is not one dimensional.
They are gonna get views no matter what. It’s the freaking Olympics. You root for your home country. Basketball is a team sport sport. The first NBA Olympic team was amazing I’m a NY’er yes I loved seeing Patrick Ewing out there but I really enjoyed the whole team. She’ll get her chance. Yes the men and women are dominate already. I seriously doubt there will be more eyeballs watching the freaking OLYMPICS just because she’s there. 100/200 meter dash. It was great seeing Usain Bolt but he’s no longer there and I’m still Going to watch. Root for any Americans in the heats don’t know them well but I sure will be cheering them on. I say that to say once Usain wasn’t there it was still the premier event. That’s why it’s on the last day (or couple of days of the Olympics)
These people acting like they will actually watch or give a chance to anyone other than Clark lol. So disingenuous. It's not "growing the game" when these people are just going in with the intention of watching Clark and no one else.
Eh i actually like Bomani Jones take better. He said just sending her for views/ratings is a bad precedent to start and would also make most of the team hate her if they dont think she actually earned it. He suggested having her do a bunch of tv appearances for the olympics talking about the womens team though. You still get her face out there without being on the team.
CC needs a break though. She had her WNBA debut like less than a month after her last college game.
So they should take the spot away from someone else who deserves it more? The Olympic team selection is a years long process, just giving someone a charity spot based on TV ratings isn’t the right move in my opinion
Take who off? If she really wanted it or the W wanted to market her put her on the 3x3 like Brink and HVL.
How would it look though if they took CK because of viewership instead of her talent? It would be doing her a huge disservice honestly and make a bit of a mockery of the whole thing. She's be torn to bits if she was recruited to the team because of her drawing power. What's next, putting women on teams because they hot? They should go off skill and nothing else. She will get her time.
It’s not instead of her talent it’s in combination with her talent. There’s no world where putting the NCAA all team leading scorer on the Olympic team is a mockery of the sport
Can you imagine though if the dream team had a college player on the roster though? Just think about how ridiculous that woulda been.
I’m assuming this is sarcasm since Christian Laettner was on the 92 dream team. I think Clark is much closer to the worst player on this women’s Olympic roster than Laettner was to the best player he replaced on the 92 dream team. Laettner was selected as a nod to the tradition when only college athletes could play basketball in the Olympics. This wouldn’t be the reason to select Clark. While I think more people would’ve watched to see Clark in the Olympics than to see people talk non stop about how she isn’t there ultimately the WNBA is getting a boost from her during regular season games. It’s fine for the WNBA to select other players and she’ll likely be in the next one
AD was on the team in 2012 before he played in the NBA
Agreed. But would they also have to play her? Like if they take her and don't feature her, is that negative attention? Idk the answer, but I had the same reaction - they ALWAYS win, why wouldn't they want the publicity?
This team has such a good range of players to make them dominant. They went against Japan for gold last Olympics and they were actually a really skilled fast paced team, but BG dominated the game because of her size.
> They went against Japan for gold last Olympics and they were actually a really skilled fast paced team, but BG dominated the game because of her size I remember being impressed with that Japanese team. Undersized but voraciously scrappy with good shooting.
Yes! And I remember being so excited when one of them ended up joining the mystics last season
I have heard people say caitlin should take the place of 6 9 center.
Genuine question: Does USA women's basketball team always field the strongest team in the Olympics?
Barring injuries yeah. The last notable snub was Ogwumike in Tokyo. MVP winner, one of the best defenders in the league, and they left her off for a questionable injury in favour of Napheesa Collier even though she trained with them and played at all the FIBA events. I know a lot of people are only just starting to follow the WNBA but USA Basketball has a much more checkered history with the women's team compared to the men's. The most headscratching part is that snubbing vets for unproven rookies is actually really common with USA Basketball. You can criticise that all you want (and fair enough) but it's absurd that they'd stop that practice now when the rookie in question is the greatest prospect of all time.
Do you have any examples that include any of the players who are currently on the Olympic roster?
It’s kind of surprising how the men’s foreign teams have gotten so much better since the Dream Team but the women’s teams still get absolutely pummeled by the US.
lol wtf that’s crazy
Sue Bird was on tv talking about people saying this and not understanding that sometimes they barely won games.
They barely won on a buzzer beater for an Olympic qualifier a couple months ago.
Not sure this is right. They qualled at the '22 world cup
https://www.fiba.basketball/oqtwomen/belgium/2024/news/stewart-buzzer-beater-saves-usa-and-breaks-belgian-hearts
Seems like more of a reason to build a roster based on skill and not give a prime spot to a famous rookie for marketing purposes
Yeah and the last time the men lost was 2004 until this most recent Olympics where they lost a game (and before 2004, you'd have to go back to 1988). The world is catching up and is better than ever. The US doesn't dominate by putting whoever out there anymore, and even so, idk why you wouldn't put the best players on the team. Might as well put livvy dunne on the gymnastics team then
This is a reddit post about a tweet about an article about another article
Internet 3.0 Edit: it would be so cool if some web-journalist formulated an article based on your comment. An article inspired by a Reddit comment about a reddit post about a tweet about an article about another article.
I'm just a dude playing a dude disguised as another dude
I'd tweet that
Nice comment on a post about a tweet about an article about another article!
I feel like people are also forgetting the crazy amount of minutes she’s racked up. Full NCAA season with practically no break, right into rookie WNBA season. Would be much better to not play at the Olympics
The ‘protect Caitlin’ argument feels patronizing. Even as a bench player, the high-stakes Olympic experience would aid her development more than doing commercials and winding down for a couple weeks.
It’s not that high stakes though at least from a competitive perspective. Women’s team hasn’t lost a game in 32 years
Reasonable take from Durant. Clark hasn't done anything to prove herself in the pros yet. Like he said she's 22....if she ends up as good as advertised she'll still be at the Olympics 3 or 4 times during her career. And if someone wants to say "what about Laettner? He was on the team before he proved himself" I think it was dumb for team USA to do that back then too.
> And if someone wants to say "what about Laettner? He was on the team before he proved himself" I think it was dumb for team USA to do that back then too. As was said Laettner was included for sentimental reasons. It was basically a nod to the fact that the USA couldn't send pros to the Olympics until the Dream Team and including a collegiate star would appease the traditionalists.
I’m so confused… am I really just this old? Anthony Davis was on the redeem team before playing in the nba… how does nobody know this
Davis was picked due to the lack of depth for American bigs in the NBA at the time. And injuries. Howard and Bosh would have been the main two options at the 5 but were both injured. They just went with Tyson Chandler as the starting center. And Blake Griffin and Kevin Love were the back up centers despite being undersized. Blake got injured so Davis replaced him. Garnett and Duncan should probably have been picked over Davis but I guess they refused. Outside of them, I can't really think of anyone notable. Maybe Bynum? Not sure if he was injured at the time though. By the way, USA played small ball and one of LeBron,KD or Melo played the 4 mostly.
Duncan never went back to the Olympics b/c he vehemently hated his 2004 run.
Yea man I’m gonna have to admit the L here I really thought I remembered AD being picked because they were taking a college player to ride the bench and get a future superstar familiar with all the other superstars. He obviously was never going to play in crunch time even if all the centers fouled out Lol the USA had Lebron, kd, and Kobe in their primes Edit: but after googling, turns out I misremembered and that only happened cause of injuries… TIL
Isn't 2008 the redeem team?
Technically the Redeem Team was 2008 and AD played in 2012. I only know this because I loved the documentary about the Redeem Team and 2008 seemed too early for AD soni Googled it.
AD made the team because like four players dropped out.
I believe he was there because of the lack of bigs that year.
it was a special case because the dreamteam's architects at usa basketball felt ncaa was so historically important that it'd be wrong not to include 1x player. so they picked the one with inarguably the best ncaa career, though Shaq & Alonzo Mourning clearly better players.
Sounds kind of familiar
I mean laettner wasn’t doubling the average viewing audience for the sport every time he played
I mean, that’s pretty fair. Take one of the best college player to the olympics so he’s accustomed to the USA system and be a leader before he even turns 23
They were not doing it for Laettner's benefit in any way and he certainly wasn't being molded to be a leader around Michael Jeffrey Jordan, Barkley, Magic, and Bird. Laettner has talked about his time on the team. His leadership never comes up for a reason.
Yep. It was a pretty simple selection. They wanted a college player, and Laettner was coming off one of the most successful college careers ever. 4 Final Four appearances and 2 championships. This stat almost defies belief: back when the tourney was 64 teams, the most career games a player could appear in was 24 (4 years, max 6 per year). Laettner played in 23, and won 21 of them.
The only reason Laettner made the team was because the people behind US basketball made a rule that at least one college player had to be on the Olympic team.
Anytime I watch Fever games she was chased by two defenders like watching Steph, she has been double teamed historical rate. Numbers are not great, but her skills stretch the defense.
>Anytime I watch Fever games she was chased by two defenders [And sometimes, there are five.](https://imgur.com/qXVIYFQ)
I do wonder, because like you say, her numbers are not great, if its actually worth it to guard her like that, at least until she proves that she deserves to be guarded like that. Selling out on a player shooting 38% from the field and 32% from three just doesn't feel like it's the right play. I guess the logic is the team is the rest of the team is so bad, you can afford to, but still.
They're an awful team with bad chemistry and bad coaching. You still guard her like that, especially with the turnovers.
Yeah they need to move tf on from Christie Sides sooner rather than later. Also a good chunk of the existing roster aside from CC, Boston and Mitchell. I've only watched a few Fever games but their offensive flow has been woeful from what I've seen.
I've only watched last Sunday's game but their offense was anything but stagnant. Maybe that's because it was a “mid-off”.
Locker room is cooked too, some of her teammates’ friends have talked shit about CC on social media. They’ll need substantial roster/coaching overhauls in the offseason.
Who has talked shit on Clark? I don't see the point in dumping players because of what their friends have said. If they can play then they can help the team. Clark doesn't need to overreact. She can let her play speak for itself.
It’s not her rest of team is bad Aliyah Boston is perfect partner for her. I feel like it’s the defense and chemistry. Once they figure out they will be competing against better teams. They also need a big someone who is 6’7
Look at Taurasi's numbers. Her shooting splits are basically identical to Clark's. There is quite a few stars in the WNBA with not so stellar shooting splits.
I think we all also get into the habit of looking at NBA stars' shooting splits and comparing them to WNBA stars' shooting splits
Taurasi (42) is as old as Kareem, Mutombo, and Udonis Haslem when they retired. She’s old enough to be Caitlin Clark’s mom. She also plays for a much better team and gets easier shots
You can literally look up Taurasi’s stats and see this isn’t true. Taurasi has a career average of 36%+ from 3 and had multiple seasons shooting 38%+ from 3 on high volume If you mean just Taurisi’s rookie year then yes, they are similar
And this season she's shooting 39/35/87 for her splits compared to Clark who is shooting 38/33/91. If people are going to argue Clark's numbers are not good enough to warrant a spot it's fair to ask how Taurasi's are when again they are basically the same. There's obviously more to it than just shooting splits, but we are talking about a women's national team who hasn't lost a game in the Olympics ever and whose average margin of victory is something like 30 points. Having Clark on the team would have guaranteed eye balls on the games. She's the biggest draw, we have easily the best team, to leave her off is silly when she could bring so much more attention to women's basketball.
The numbers aren’t great, but by and large the WNBA all have lower shooting splits. People like Kelsey plum, taurasi, ionescu all have similar percentages
But plum can take the ball to the hole and make a layup and play defense.
And yet her numbers are still almost identical to Diana Taurasi’s this year
Why are we talking about Laettner. The US has taken other college players or first year rookies (since Clark technically did play a few WNBA games) before who had never played professionally otherwise. Players such as Anthony Davis, Diana Taurasi, and Breanna Stewart. They even kicked Candace Parker off the team in favor of Stewart.
In the women you mentioned case, they had experience with the senior team before being selected. That doesn't excuse the Candace Parker snub for Stewie though (it's rumored that she and Geno have issues that's why she was left off that team). Caitlin doesn't have prior International experirence.
What you're ignoring is the WNBA has taken a rookie every time since like 2000. That's including Taurasi. Her being on the team wouldn't be like Laettner. She has comparable numbers to other people that were selected over her so if she had been included it isn't like you could point and say she doesn't deserve it and she stole a spot. She's the most popular draw and wouldn't hinder Team USA from dominating the Olympics like they have since their induction. It is silly for them to leave her off when she is easily the biggest draw to the sport right now.
I mean she is having a really good rookie year. She is averaging 16 pts 5 rebs and 6 assists. She is fourth in the league in assists. And is a top 20 scorer already. People are just focusing on all this extra stuff around her and trying to get to say she is struggling or having a bad year. When the truth is she playing pretty well and not struggling anymore than your average rookie.
I feel like people are absolutely trying to build a "struggling" narrative around her. She's playing pretty good. She's not absolutely dominating like she did in NCAA, but she's in no way disappointing either. I guess they just need something to talk about. Which you'd think they would have plenty with her already.
She's doing well, but any "struggle" you hear is because for some people who had no knowledge of the W thought she was winning MVP and making all WNBA First Team right off the bat. Essentially, they thought she ws going to do the exact thing that she did in Iowa, which was unfair to her and an indirect jab at the quality of the WNBA. She's handling herself fine.
Wemby was straight up booed in vegas& the crowd was chanting “Hit me baby one more time” because of how mad they were that he didn’t live up to the impossible expectations the league, media, and Spurs FO(not pop) set for him Folks really need to understand that these rookies may take a little bit to get the hang of things
I didn’t like when ad was on the 2012 team
AD was on the team and he hadn’t proved anything in the pros
AD was a reserve and only made the team because of injuries, which could still happen with Clark.
Just an FYI. Kevin Durant was invited to try out for the team when he was 19. Seems a little hypocritical to say she shouldn’t get the same sort of treatment.
I mean if it wasn’t laettner, it would have been shaq. Talent wins out.
But neither we're going to play any meaningful minutes anyway.
Her name is Caitlin holy shit lol
The OP even includes the correct spelling of the name in the quote, and then goes rogue for the title.
nobody has more authority to speak on USA basketball than KD, hes probably our GOAT when it comes to international play
He's also a basketball junkie who actually watches women's ball, unlike 90% of the people commenting on it.
if it involves basketball, KD is interested. ive seen videos of him just showing up to random high school games and watching like hes a parent or something, not to mention the recent clip of him practicing his jumper in the middle of a club. the nba should definitely bring him on as some type of brand ambassador after he retires, man lives and breathes basketball
Dude honestly might be happy with becoming a scout in retirement, if people don't crowd him or anything.
KD was heavily involved in the nets picking Cam Thomas
There's a video of somebody coming up to Kevin Durant at the last Olympics and it's a girl from the Australian basketball team and she wants a signature and he tells her oh you're going to have a lot of trouble this year because your star player just got injured a few days ago. He knew without any preparation the injury report of the Australian women's basketball team lmao.
KD is probably one of the most knowledgeable people on women's ball tbh.
Yep 100%. The majority of people arguing about Clark being “snubbed” don’t watch the W, because she’s full of potential but is also not a top-12 player, which is how many slots there are. Edit: Clark is currently: 17th in PPG, 4th in APG, 29th in RPG, 26th in SPG, 15th in BPG, 25th in 3P% (minimum 3 attempts per game), 32nd in TS% (minimum 10 games played), 1st in Turnovers per game, 33rd in PER (minimum 10 games played), 11th in USG% So no, she is not deserving a spot on the Olympic team.
Don’t tell r/sports that, they’ll have a shit fit at the mere thought of someone, let alone KD, watching the WNBA and enjoying it
Dude that’s this sub on nearly every W post.
Melo
Durant averaged 20 ppg for the team USA team and basically carried them to a gold last year in a tough field with a mediocre (relative) cast
The supporting cast wasn’t that mediocre. They were still stacked with all-stars. It’s just that most of those all-stars were playing like shit aside from KD, Holiday, and Lavine in moments.
Compared to 2008 and 2012 it was mediocre. Most of the top guys didn’t play like Steph, Lebron, harden Westbrook. Those 08, and 12 teams had the absolute best players in the league
melo is def in the conversation, but kd has put the team on his back and won and i cant say the same for melo
Yeah Melo is an American legend when it comes to international play, for sure. But KD is #1. Captain America
Durant averages double Melo’s points, has two tournament MVPs to Melo’s zero, and beats him for #1 all time scoring by 100 points and will likely keep extending the gap this year.
Team USA lost at the FIBA World in 2006. KD at 22 won Gold in 2010. Then in 2012, 2016 and 2020. Tournament MVP in 2010 and 2020.
Melo was great in Olympic basketball no doubt, but I think people slightly overrate how good he was. KD has more points in Olympic basketball than Melo in much fewer games. He’s also been the leading scorer on 3 different Olympic teams. Melo was never the leading scorer on even one I’m believe.
I’d go with KD. He was the clear best player on the last team. I don’t think Melo’s ever been the alpha dog.
I want CC to go full heel turn and become a Canadian or French or whatever citizen and play with them.
okay then she is going to get smoked
Running to the grind.
You girls is chumps
From one Indiana Fever team to another but on the international stage 😂
Revenge for Embiid
Like Becky Hammon playing for Russia.
Agree with KD. 3 years ago I remember people asking for Sabrina Ionescu as she was coming hot off college and had amazing shooting performances but she was snubbed. Now she got her spot at the team.
Lord have mercy. It's her rookie year. She'll be fine and so will the exceptionally talented team that we're fielding. There will be plenty more opportunities for her and all the other exceptionally talented rookies that didn't make the cut this go round
> I still think there's proper steps you have to take in our world to be considered an Olympian. Those steps are whatever we want them to be. Every Men's Olympic Basketball team has had their reasons for bringing who they brought it and there has never been a defined metric by which one becomes an olympian or not. CC could just as easily been on this team as she was left off. I'm not even a proponent of CC making the olympics, but I just think this whole discourse about it is so off putting because stuff like what KD is saying here is making it seem like there is some step she has to go through when in reality, they just didn't want her. Its as simple as that. Just like the dream team didn't want Isiah Thomas either.
There are some proper steps like the training camp she missed because of the tournament. The women's team also played qualifiers together a few months ago so they have continuity compared to the men's who have to send different rosters.
While it's reasonable not to have selected Clark from a basketball standpoint, it certainly wouldn't have been crazy to select her either. Previously, four WNBA rookies - **Rebecca Lobo in 1996, Diana Taurasi in 2004, Candace Parker in 2008 and Breanna Stewart in 2016** – have been selected for Team USA's Olympic rosters. Lobo avg 12 pts on 43% TS | Taurasi avg 17 points on 51% TS during their rookie seasons. Clark is avg 16/5/6 on 56% TS. She has the 4th highest TS% among guards who are in the top 20 in league scoring. From a business standpoint its idiotic not to have selected her. Christine Brennan from USA Today who has covered woman's sports and the olympics for decades explains this much better than I could. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDB9nXG87oY&t=648s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDB9nXG87oY&t=648s)
Why do we keep needing to hear this over and over from everyone? Especially when she already said she understands?
Because the right are using her as race bait
Seriously
Taurasi at 42 is on the team as a lifetime achievement award.
Shes still good at basketball?
One day Caitlin Clark will be popular enough for internet users to spell her name with an I and not a Y.
Never thought I’d see Kevin Durant and Wall Street Journal in the same sentence
I don’t think anyone is arguing for it based on having earned it. It’s that it would be extraordinarily good for *marketing*. That’s why it’s a dumb decision. They’ll win gold either way.
I mean if you’re arguing for marketing you’re defacto arguing against merit. KD is taking the side of having it merit based in his statement.
If we go by merit over other factors, Taurasi shouldn't be on the team. There's like 4 other players that deserve it over her for merit reasons. She's just a legacy pick. I think obviously KD isn't going to go after her like that, because she is a legend, but for this year alone, definitely not one of the deserving picks.
idk there’s merit beyond counting stats, too. She’s a vet with a lot of winning experience in the olympics and reps with the international squad. They probably considered that.
Taurasi is also team captain. Like, the other players there respect her, she's the leader of that team. She also has a very good argument as the GOAT of women's basketball. And it is just so annoying to see so many people shit on her going for a historic gold because they started following five minutes ago and their fave got left off
CC threads on reddit are consistently toxic. Anything about her posted in /r/sports is just a breeding ground for closet racists
If there is something lacking on the team, it isn’t international experience.
I think you could also take a player like Clark so she could be prepared more in 2028 assuming she makes the team in the next Olympics. Also, given the importance of 3 point shooting, one could say that Clark could make the team as a role player. Granted her efficiency isn't high as of right now but she won't be getting as much defensive attention a stacked team like USA. It wouldn't be the first time a WNBA rookie makes it either. Lobo (1996), Taurasi in 2004, Parker in 2008, and Breanna Stewart in 2016.
wasn’t anthony davis on the olympics roster before ever playing in the nba?
Bosh, Aldridge, Dwight, and Blake all had to drop out. AD was *way* down the list of replacements.
It has nothing to do with being reasonable or what’s “correct” The Dream Team literally globalized the NBA These women (who have been complaining FOR YEARS) FINALLY have an opportunity to get views, money, attention But they are so jealous and spiteful they can’t see past their nose Caitlin on the team = double maybe triple the attention Fair or unfair.. who cares, get the attention while it’s hot They’re going to push fans away and maybe Clark away I’m already starting to root for their failure after all the shit they’ve been pulling on her She needs to walk away for a while and let them starve
I would say 10x the attn
"these women" You are conflating the small group of people on the women's Olympic committee with all female basketball players in the WNBA and it is ridiculous on its face. Edit: oh I see your comment history explains everything. You're a total misogynist.
Come on now. You’re out of your mind if you think Caitlin Clark is gonna have the same global impact as Prime Michael Jordan, Magic, Bird, Chuck et al.
Oh, no ... Not at all .... But it's definitely going to have positive impact by having her on the team The viewers alone would be worth it And she's not garbage, she's easily ROY and could be on the team It's an easy BUSINESS decision
The committee responsible for the 92 Dream Team also wanted representation from the amateur league, so they included Laettner from Duke. Bird (played 2 games) and Magic were also retired/about to. US was going to sweep anyways - can't deny that a major purpose of the '92 Olympics was to grow the sport.
Can we stop asking about Clark. Superstar without a doubt but come on quit shoving her down our throats.
Regardless of how you may feel about his choices/ demeanor, KD is undoubtedly one of the greatest basketball minds out there, and he had always had a lot of knowledge and respect for the women's game. If that's what he says, I personally trust him.
100% of what makes this girl annoying is her fans. Every time I read a thread about this chick I quickly come to the conclusion her fans are just unstable assholes who are literally just pretending to like basketball.
Kevin Durant telling someone else they need to take a harder road
Why wasn't Zeke on the Dream Team? Politics.
If CC was on the team I would tune in. She’s not playing so I won’t watch any games. She has that type of pull. Similar to when the Warriors came into the scene, you just wanted to watch them play
The female Olympic committee is not supposed to make decisions based on ratings. You can disagree with it but they have a mission statement
Wnba needs people to watch them. There's literally no better way to get more viewers than to put CC on the team as the 12th woman and give her minutes when they're up big. The iron is hot right now. Now is the time to take advantage. Not in four years when she's actually ready but a fraction of the attention is on her.
If you don’t care to see the best women play, why would you tune in just to see her chuck up some shots in garbage time?
If she only got garbage time minutes there would be people complaining about that as well.
Can we spell her name correctly.
Why is this a thing? She's a rookie. I think that itself settle most arguments unless you are Wemby. Yeah some may think she's good enough, but the lack of experience alone almost justify to exclude her regardless of all other factors. I also can't believe what I read - because of views? Is this what it has come down to? I guess it's capitalism at its finest lol. This is such a disrespect to the game. This should be about winning, period. Is it because she's a white woman? Man US is a weird place.