Many fans were outraged when Caitlin Clark was left off the roster for the women’s U.S. Olympic team in Paris last summer, and a new book has provided more context about the controversial decision.
Clark was not one of the 12 players who won a gold medal with Team USA following a thrilling 67-66 win over host nation France in the women’s basketball final. The Indiana Fever star was already one of the most popular players in the WNBA at the time and had averaged 16.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game through her first 16 games.
USA Today’s Christine Brennan reported at the time that one of the reasons Clark was left off the team was that USA Basketball feared backlash from Clark’s fans if the former Iowa star saw limited playing time in Paris. Brennan reiterated that and went into further detail in her new book “On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women’s Sports,” which was released on Tuesday.
Brennan wrote that USA Basketball was “concerned about critical posts on X and Facebook and the like” and that the organization “didn’t want to deal,” according to Christian Arnold of the New York Post. The reporter also noted that there were really only 11 roster spots because Diana Taurasi was a lock for the team as a “farewell present by USA Basketball.”
Taurasi had won five gold medals with Team USA, and the sixth was a record. Brennan says the team was committed to giving Taurasi a roster spot “unless she was totally injured and couldn’t play.”
Of course, many fans believed that Clark was left off the team because some of her peers were jealous of her and did not want her stealing the spotlight. Clark chose to take the high road when asked about the snub.
