Kaitlyn Clark, the most popular women's basketball player in the nation, if not the world, has been removed from the 2024 U.S. Olympic women's basketball team, three people with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports on Saturday morning.
This confirms a report from USA Today Sports last night that Clark, who thrilled record crowds and television audiences with her thrilling Logo three-pointers and pinpoint passing, winning WNBA Rookie of the Month award and numerous rookie statistical records, has been snubbed by USA Basketball.
The USA Basketball Association, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Clark could not immediately be reached for comment Saturday morning.
Two other sources, both veterans of U.S. basketball and with decades of experience in women's basketball, told USA Today Sports on Friday that concerns about how Clark's millions of fans would react to a player who would likely get limited playing time, played a role in the decision. If true, it would be an unusual acknowledgement of the tensions that the multi-million-dollar sensation, who signs autographs for dozens of kids before and after every game, has placed on veteran members of women's basketball. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
The U.S. Women's Olympic Basketball team has been the most dominant and successful team in the world since losing in 1992. Yet despite their many wins and medals, U.S. athletes are largely ignored by Olympic sports media. Gymnasts, swimmers, track and field athletes, and of course the U.S. women's soccer team, get far more attention. It's a busy two weeks with dozens of medals being awarded each day, so the competition for headlines is always fierce.
“Even at the women's Olympic basketball gold medal game, the press box is almost always half empty or less. Of course, Clark would have changed all that, sparking interest not just in the U.S. media but also from reporters around the world.”
The 22-year-old Clarke is the gateway to women's basketball for hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of boys, girls, women and men. The USABasketball Association could use her enormous influence to help promote not only the 2024 Olympic team, but women's basketball in general. Selecting Clarke would also be a tribute to the popularity of college basketball. And it has been done before, with college players such as Christian Laettner, Rebecca Lobo, Diana Taurasi and Breanna Stewart making the U.S. Olympic team over the years.
The timing of USA Basketball's decision couldn't have been worse. Clark scored 30 points and made seven 3-pointers, tying a WNBA rookie record, on Friday night in front of a WNBA crowd of 20,333 in Washington, D.C., the largest in 17 years. Clark's Indiana Fever was victorious and the Fever and Mystics were a combined 2-19 at the start of the game. Among the crowd were hundreds of children and adults wearing Clark's No. 22 jersey.
The crowd at Capital One Arena was more than double the crowd the Chicago Sky drew the night before in the same building.
For months, Clark's potential selection had been a topic of speculation across the basketball world.
“I don't know how we're going to leave the country without her,” four-time Olympic gold medalist Lisa Leslie told Sporting News in April, adding that Clark should be “100 percent” on the U.S. team.
