WNBA
Arike Ogunbowale is done with “politics”.
The Dallas Wings star said Thursday that he has withdrawn his name from consideration for the U.S. basketball team for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris because he felt the selection process had little to do with “my game.”
” [the Olympic trials]”It doesn’t really have much to do with your game,” Ogunbowale said on “The Nightcap” with Shannon Sharpe, Gilbert Arenas and Chad Johnson.
“What really matters is who fits on the team, so I removed my name from the list months ago. I thought I would be on the team last year and I thought I was good enough to make it, but when the list came out I knew I wasn’t going to be there.”
Ogunbowale said he was not keen for the selection committee to include him in the team, adding that the criteria for who gets selected is “subjective”.
“All the players in the WNBA are great, so it’s their choice who they pick,” she said.
Ogunbowale further explained that politics have always been a part of US basketball.
“Whether it’s USA Basketball, the All-Star team, the first team, there’s politics involved in all of that,” Ogunbowale said. “Even in men’s basketball, [basketball teams]”…There’s always politics in everything, so I’ll just leave it at that.”
Ogunbawale was the fifth overall pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft and is a three-time All-Star.
She was named to the All-WNBA First Team in 2021 and the Second Team in 2022.
This year, she is averaging an impressive 26.2 points and 5.5 assists per game.
Her comments came shortly after Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark was removed from the 2024 Olympic team.
USA Today reported that Clarke’s popularity and potential fan reaction to her lack of playing time among a well-stocked roster played a role in the selection committee’s decision to leave her out of the team.
U.S. coach Cheryl Reeve’s team will rely heavily on veteran players, with Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier, Jewel Loyd and Chelsea Gray expected to feature in France.
The U.S. national team has previously left out some notable WNBA players.
Two-time WNBA MVP Candace Parker was left off the 2016 Olympic team.
She believed this was because University of Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma, who had a strong voice on the team’s selection committee, disliked her.
“There are a lot of deserving players, but how many times are we going to say it’s not fair,” Parker told reporters after being ignored. “How many times are we going to say this isn’t about politics? I think we all know that.”
Nneka Ogwumike, the 2016 WNBA MVP, was left off the roster for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
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