CEO of the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee Sarah Hirshland has justified Team USA’s exclusion of Caitlin Clark, describing the procedure as “very disciplined.” Diana Taurasi, a 42-year-old guard, was given a seat on the USA basketball team in June, despite the WNBA rookie star’s controversial exclusion.
Although Clark’s exclusion from the 12-player roster confused some, according to Hirshland, USA Basketball made the right decision.
She stated on the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast, via Awful Announcing, “When you look at the whole thing in totality, I would say USA Basketball has had a very disciplined process with people who know more about the sport of women’s basketball than anyone else in the world.” And I have complete faith in their expertise. We’re hoping that the women, who have won the gold medal on numerous occasions, have struck gold once more and we’ll take home another gold.
In addition, Hirshland noted that Clark had not participated in the team’s qualifying run, referring to the selection procedure as a “multiyear process.” “Those individuals on the team must truly be qualified for the Games.” Hirshland continued, “The US’s qualification for the Games isn’t a given.” And that takes place over a considerable amount of time. Clark did represent the United States at the U19 FIBA World Cup in 2019 and 2021.
Prior to finally being left off of this summer’s squad, she was also listed as an alternative. Clark had some early growing pains in the WNBA, but he has since stabilized and broken records in the W.
With 19 assists against the Dallas Wings, she set a rookie record and is already leading the Indiana Fever in assists for the whole season. With the league on vacation for the Olympics, Clark leads the league in assists with 8.2 per game and averages 17.1 points per game in the W.
After defeating Germany in a practice match, the USA women’s basketball team will play Japan in their opening match of the Olympics on Monday. Later on, the Americans will compete in group play against Belgium and Germany in an attempt to earn an eighth straight gold medal.