Caitlin Clark On Not Making The Team USA Olympic Roster: ‘It’s The Most Competitive Team In The World’

On Saturday, word broke that USA Basketball had made its decision on the 12 players that would make up the women’s basketball team that will be going for its eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal in Paris later this summer.

The roster is, per usual, stacked with the top stars from the WNBA, but Indiana Fever star rookie Caitlin Clark was not among the names on the list. That came as a surprise to some, as Clark has drawn massive audiences for the past year, dating back to her senior season at Iowa, but USA Basketball isn’t in the TV ratings business (maybe to the chagrin of NBC) and rolled with a lineup featuring veterans and established stars at the pro level.

As is the case with everything involving Clark, this became a topic of controversy, as people are seemingly incapable of being normal when it comes to Clark as she’s made the leap to the pros. One of the only people with a tempered response to Clark not being on the roster was Clark herself, who addressed the media on Sunday after Fever practice. Clark said was excited to cheer on the group that did make the team, that it gives her something to strive for in the future, and that she hopes to make the squad in 2028 — while also noting a month off will be a welcome break after going straight from the Final Four to the WNBA.

It is the kind of perspective we often see from Clark, who has shrugged off controversy at just about every turn, imploring people to keep the focus on basketball and let things fall where they may. It’s folks on the outside, namely the loudest voices in the national media and on social media, that seem determined to make everything that happens with Clark something more than it is. In this case, it’s a rookie who’s had an up-and-down start on her hopeful road to superstardom being left off of, as she noted, the most competitive team in the world for a bunch of established stars, Olympic veterans, and MVP candidates.

Clark is taking that all in stride, understanding her time will come if she continues growing as a pro, and I think we all could do well to follow her lead in not acting like everything that happens with her is a life or death proposition.