One of the basketball's rising stars will not be representing the United States at the Olympics this summer, with jealousy appearing to play a significant role.
Despite being one of the top players in the WNBA and the highest scoring player in women's college basketball history, Caitlin Clark will not be included on USA Basketball's roster for the upcoming Olympics in Paris.
Clark will be excluded from the Olympic team for an unusual reason: she has too many fans. (RELATED: Female Basketball Star Shares Opinion On Controversial Social Issue)
As CNN reports:
USA Basketball's roster for the women's Olympic basketball team that will chase gold in Paris this summer will not include WNBA rookie sensation Caitlin Clark, according to CNN sports analyst Christine Brennan.
Brennan wrote in USA Today, citing three unnamed sources, that Clark's omission from the team was due in part to “concern over how Clark's millions of fans would react to what would likely be limited playing time on a stacked roster.”
The roster is expected to include WNBA stars and past Olympic champions Brittney Griner, Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart and nine others.
Last year, Griner said she would “never go overseas again” to play basketball – unless it's for the Olympics – after being detained in Russia.
Further commenting on the supposed reason for leaving Clark behind, Brennan wrote: “If true, that would be an extraordinary admission of the existence of real tension that the old guard of women's basketball harbors for this multimillion-dollar sensation.”
Clark has faced harsh criticism from other players and some liberal sports commentators who argue that her success and popularity are due to her being white and straight, rather than her maturity and talent, such as becoming the fastest player in WNBA history to score 200 points.
ESPN reported “Clark, now a rookie with the Indiana Fever, has drawn millions of new fans to women's basketball in her college career and now in her young WNBA career.”
Jennifer Rizzotti, chair of the U.S. Women's National Team Committee, declined to comment.
Reaction across X wasn't kind.
WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE
Rosters for the Paris Games were due to the U.S. Olympic Committee by June 7, but USA Basketball requested an extension, giving the selection committee time to monitor the start of the WNBA season, according to a source.
Although Clark won't be headed to Paris, the United States is expected to include five-time gold medalist Diana Taurasi for her sixth Olympics. Taurasi will turn 42 on Tuesday.
