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Yes, USA Basketball officials know it’s easy to question the decision to leave Caitlin Clark off the Olympic team.
Dawn Staley, South Carolina head coach and a member of the USA Basketball selection committee, said Sunday that Clark’s recent play made a strong case for an Olympic spot. Clark was the player who drew the most attention when it was announced on June 11 that she had been cut from the women’s team.
“As a committee member, I have a responsibility to put together a team that is made up of the best players, the most talented players,” Staley said in an interview with NBC’s Mike Tirico. “Kaitlyn was a rookie in the WNBA and she didn’t play badly, but she wasn’t playing like she is now. If I had to do it over again, I would say based on how she played, she would be a strong candidate to make the team because she’s so much better than the other players.”
“She shoots the ball really well, she’s an elite passer, she has a really high basketball IQ and she’s got a little more experience in the pro game than she did even two months ago.”
Dawn Staley, a member of the U.S. women’s national team selection committee, asked about Kaitlyn Clark.
“If I had to do it all over again, the way she’s played, I think she’d have a very good chance of making the team because she’s so much better than a lot of the other players.” pic.twitter.com/hMYqTsPWzc
— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) July 28, 2024
The women’s team for the Paris Olympics features many veteran WNBA and USA Basketball players, including Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner, Breanna Stewart and A’ja Wilson, while Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young join the team after competing in the 3×3 basketball event in Tokyo three years ago.
As Staley noted in her comments, Clark was still adjusting to her rookie season in the WNBA when the team was officially announced. After a successful stint at Iowa, Clark was drafted first overall by the Indiana Fever and quickly assumed a key role.
In nine games in May, Clark shot just 38 percent from the field, but she improved significantly in June and July. In six games in July before the WNBA’s Olympic break, Clark shot 43 percent from the field, but just 27 percent from the three-point line. She also averaged 12.5 assists per game in those games, compared to just seven assists per game in the first two months of the season.
But this won’t be Clark’s only Olympic appearance. Now that she’s playing professionally, she’s expected to be a mainstay on the U.S. basketball team. Some also believe Clark needed some time away from competitive basketball. Clark’s first WNBA regular season appearance was on May 14, just a month after her final game for Iowa State, the national title game on April 7.
