The basketball world went into a frenzy when the U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team was announced on Saturday, mostly because Caitlin Clark was left off the roster.
While many fans were upset about this “snub,” Clark reacted to the news with class by explaining how she wasn’t disappointed to hear the news. Instead, she’s using this as motivation to help her make the team for the 2028 Olympics.
“Honestly, no disappointment. I think it just gives you something to work for,” Clark said, via Indy Star’s Chloe Peterson. “It’s a dream, hopefully one day I can be there. I think it’s just a little more motivation. You remember that and hopefully in four years, when four years comes back around, I can be there.”
Here are her full comments:
When it comes to not making the Olympic team, Caitlin Clark has nothing but praise for the 12 who made it: “it’s the toughest team to make.”
Instead of just focusing on herself, Clark shifted the conversation to talk about how excited she is for the 12 women who were named to Team USA.
“I’m excited for the girls that are on the team,” Clark said. “I know it’s the most competitive team in the world. I know it could’ve gone either way of me being on the team, me not being on the team. I’m excited for them. I’m going to be rooting them on to win gold.”
Clark has helped bring in record crowds to Indiana Fever games this season, and her stardom was reportedly part of the reason she was kept off the Olympic team this year as the team worried how fans would “react to what would likely be limited playing time on a stacked roster.”
Getting to the foul line is a key part of Caitlin Clark's offensive bag, which sometimes leads to the rookie superstar embellishing contact from defenders in order to secure a foul call from officials.
Clark was awarded a foul during Monday's tilt between the Indiana Fever and Connecticut Sun after officials deemed that DiJonai Carrington reached in while trying to steal the ball.
Carrington clearly did not agree with the assessment from the referees, and she made clear that she felt Clark had flopped on the play. After hearing the whistle sound and the official call her number for a foul, Carrington comically mimed Clark's flopping antics.
Carrington appeared to bump Clark while she tried to drive to the basket, which is what prompted the whistle from the referee. That didn't sit well with Carrington, who indicated to the official that Clark had sold the contact with a flop.
Ultimately, it was Carrington and the Sun who got the last laugh. They picked up an 89–72 victory on their home court, marking the third time this season they've beaten Indiana. Clark was a game-worst -30 and had just 10 points on the night while Carrington led all scorers with 22 points.
Mainstream men’s sports punditry has discovered the WNBA, and I wish it hadn’t.
Popular programs like First Take and The Pat McAfee Show are typically preoccupied with the goings on in the NFL and NBA but have recently dedicated increased airtime to women’s basketball. This type of universal coverage, and the exposure it generates, is what women’s sports supporters and insiders have hoped for for decades. But now, it’s here, and it feels less like validation, and more like an affliction.
The heightened interest in women’s basketball centers around the cultural phenomenon of Catilin Clark. Her collegiate career at Iowa is nothing short of groundbreaking, and her generational talent rightfully earned her a boatload of loyal fans. Clark’s transition to the WNBA has been watched breathlessly, bringing an unprecedented level of attention to the league, buoying viewership, ticket sales and investment. With the Clark hype has come a flood of media scrutiny typically reserved for men’s sports leagues. The devolving discourse—which reached a fever pitch this week after the Chicago Sky’s Chennedy Carter committed a Flagrant 1 foul on Clark last Saturday—has exposed how unequipped a mainstream sports media dominated by men is for this moment.
"Who talks about the WNBA, who talks about women, who talks about women's sports more than First Take?" Stephen A. Smith asked Monica McNutt at the end of a 40-minute segment addressing the Carter foul on Clark on Monday’s show. "Stephen A., respectfully, with your platform, you could have been doing this three years ago if you wanted to,” McNutt responded, leaving Smith incredulous.
Directing that question at McNutt, an accomplished former collegiate basketball player herself and established broadcaster, is laughable. Smith’s stance that First Take bestowed McNutt, and the WNBA, with a platform they ought to be grateful for echoes the prevailing sentiment that the league’s players owe Clark a debt of gratitude. It’s patriarchal and condescending and fails to acknowledge the work of generations that has poured into the WNBA. McNutt later expanded on the exchange, saying, "I think what I was frustrated by in our conversation earlier is that we can hold more than one truth, y'all. The idea of some players being jealous, yes, that probably exists. But I think since Caitlin's made her debut, there's been a large and loud push that it's been Caitlin vs. the W."
The swirling commentary about Clark’s unfair treatment at the hands of WNBA veterans does the 22-year-old rookie a disservice too, evidenced by Pat McAfee’s bizarre defense (?) of the Fever star on Monday’s episode of his show. "I would like the media people that continue to say, 'This rookie class, this rookie class, this rookie class'. Nah, just call it for what it is — there's one white b---- for the Indiana team who is a superstar," McAfee said, in an attempt to praise Clark. He later apologized for his remarks.
First, let’s get the obvious point out of the way: It’s best not to refer to a professional athlete who one purports to revere in such derogatory terms. Second, the impulse to protect Clark is paternalistic and undermines her prowess as a physical and unrelenting competitor. Clark isn’t a meek person in need of shielding, nor is she a shrinking violet, leading the league in technical fouls (three). The racial overtones are hard to ignore too. Sky rookie Angel Reese—who has 3.3 million Instagram followers and can also be credited with the recent rise in popularity of women’s basketball—was pulled down by the Connecticut Sun’s Alyssa Thomas, who was ejected from the May 25 game due to the Flagrant 2 foul. There hasn’t been wall-to-wall coverage of that incident, nor has it inspired the same media firestorm that Carter’s hip check on Clark did.
The inclination to highlight the foul(s) on Clark alone exhibits an unfamiliarity with the WNBA. It’s a physical league, and things get chippy, just like in any other professional sport. Unlike other leagues, however, the WNBA boasts very few roster spots, meaning on any given night the most elite basketball players in the world are on the floor battling it out in highly competitive matchups. While “not appropriate,” as Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon categorized Carter’s foul on Clark, it is also not remarkable, nor is it a new occurrence.
Putting a spotlight on something the way many sports media personnel have with the WNBA, isn’t the same as illuminating it. What is coverage without curiosity? What is narrative without knowledge? What is an argument without good faith? All press is not in fact good press when, to McNutt’s point, Napheesa Collier’s standout season, Arike Ogunbowale’s 40-point game and A’ja Wilson’s MVP campaign are failing to break through. It’s starting to feel like men’s sports commentators’ newfound interest, or at least newly articulated interest, in women’s basketball, is being wielded as a cudgel, punishing any player, reporter or fan who isn’t just grateful to be here.
The WNBA is a 28-year-old league with a rich history despite its young age. It has a lore that includes rivalries, dynasties, beefs and ballers. It has a culture—from its players to its fans—that is uniquely women-led, queer and Black. The W is unlike any other sports league in the U.S., and it’s better for its singularity. The current commentary is not only shortchanging the players—rookies and vets alike—but it is also willfully ignorant about the WNBA’s mores, taking a vibrant league and coating it with dull commentary. The WNBA deserves better than what the current landscape of talking heads has to offer.
The foul occurred with 15.8 seconds left in the third quarter on a Fever inbounds play, moments after Carter sank a mid-range jump shot. Clark was preparing to receive the inbounds pass from Fever teammate Aliyah Boston when Carter, who had remained on that side of the court following her made shot, proceeded to shoulder check Clark to the ground.
Officials ruled Carter's move a common foul and the play was not reviewed.
At the end of the quarter, Clark, during a sideline interview, told ESPN that Carter's foul was "not a basketball play." Meanwhile, Sides, after joking that she was "trying not to get fined," told reporters that she has submitted plays involving Clark to the WNBA for review.
"We're just going to keep sending these possessions to the league, and these plays, and hopefully they'll start, you know, taking a better look at some of the things that we see happening, or we think is happening," Sides said.
"Just more happy that Caitlin handled it the way she did. You know, it's tough to keep getting hammered the way she does and to not get rewarded with free throws or foul calls. She's continued to fight through that. Appreciate that from her. Really, really proud of her for doing that."
The WNBA on Sunday upgraded Carter's foul on Clark to a Flagrant 1 after review, according to Alexa Philippou of ESPN. Clark and the Fever will next take on the New York Liberty on Sunday night.
