Caitlin Clark, the No. 1 pick in this year's WNBA draft and the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer, is not expected to be selected for the U.S. women's basketball team for the Olympics in Paris, according to multiple reports.
The Athletic, citing anonymous sources “briefed on the decision,” reported that Clark, 22, a rookie with the WNBA's Indiana Fever, will not be part of the team traveling to Paris in July.
The Washington Post, USA Today and NBC News, citing anonymous sources, also reported that Clark will not be part of a veteran contingent expected to compete for the gold medal. The U.S. women's team has won a gold medal at every Olympic Games since 1996 and has not lost since 1992, according to USA Today.
Team USA's roster is expected to be led by five-time gold medalist Diana Taurasi and WNBA stars A'ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart, The Athletic reported. Others expected to be selected, according to the Sport, include Napheesa Collier, Ka'liah Copper, Chelsea Gray, Brittney Griner, Sabrina Ionescu, Jewel Lloyd, Kelsey Plum, Alyssa Thomas and Jackie Young.
The Post reported that this lineup is expected to be the favourites to win in Paris.
“We have not made any official announcement yet,” a U.S. team spokesman told NBC News.
According to USA Today, Clark and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee could not be reached for comment as of Saturday.
According to a report from The Athletic, the projected U.S. women's national team roster boasts one of the best basketball players in the world, so Clark's omission is not a total surprise.
As reported by The Athletic, seven of the 12 players have Olympic 5-on-5 experience and two more have 3-on-3 experience. Thomas, Copper and Ionescu are the only three players on the team expected to make their Olympic debut.
The 41-year-old Taurasi will be competing in her sixth Olympic Games, breaking an international record she shared with five other players, both male and female, according to sports news media. Griner, Taurasi's teammate on the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, is a two-time Olympic athlete.
Stewart, a two-time WNBA MVP, will be competing in her third Olympic Games, where she was named MVP of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, according to The Athletic.
In March, The Athletic reported that Clark was one of 14 players invited to the U.S. national team's final training camp before the Summer Olympics, but she was unable to attend because she was still playing in the NCAA Women's Final Four with the University of Iowa.
According to sports news media reports, the committee to select the members includes University of South Carolina coach and former U.S. national team coach Dawn Staley, three-time Olympian and Louisiana State University assistant coach Seimone Augustus, two-time Olympian and Old Dominion University coach DeLisha Milton-Jones, Connecticut Suns president Jennifer Rizzotti and WNBA director of league operations Bethany Donafin.
The Washington Post reports that the U.S. basketball team will face Japan in the opening game of the Olympics on July 29. The gold medal game is scheduled for Aug. 11.
Clark scored 30 points on Friday, tying a WNBA rookie record with seven 3-pointers, USA Today reported. She also had eight rebounds and six assists in the Fever's 85-83 win over the winless Washington Mystics (0-11). Indiana is 3-9.
The teams played in front of 20,333 fans in Washington, D.C., the largest attendance for a WNBA game in 17 years, according to USA Today. She was named the WNBA Rookie of the Month for May, according to NBC News.
