Stephen A just exposed Team USA for Snubbing Caitlin Clark in the Olympics!

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Stephen A just exposed Team USA for Snubbing Caitlin Clark in the Olympics!

Stephen A. Smith revealed an embarrassing fact about Team USA, which could have been avoided by not excluding Caitlin Clark. Since the roster announcement, there has been uproar over the omission of Caitlin, a game changer on and off the court. Caitlin’s impact on TV ratings was recognized by The Wall Street Journal, and her selection as the No. 1 overall pick set WNBA Draft TV rating records. Despite her record-breaking performance and endorsements, Team USA’s decision was based on experience and standard procedure, which backfired with the team’s Olympic losses. Caitlin’s absence deprived the team of her skills, popularity, and marketing value, a mistake the committee won’t repeat.

Stephen A. Smith blasts Caitlin Clark Team USA snub

Caitlin Clark’s exclusion from the Team USA roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics sparked an all-out rant from Stephen A. Smith.

 

Caitlin Clark is the talk of the town in the WNBA; everything she does, says, or is merely involved in sets the entire sports world ablaze. Thus, when reports came out that Clark won’t be making the Team USA roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics, many came out in defense of the Indiana Fever guard, saying that she very much deserved a ticket to France in July.

After all, some fans thought, what better way for the WNBA to help in continuing to grow the sport by giving the 22-year old guard some exposure on the grandest international stage? Even Stephen A. Smith was flummoxed by the exclusion of Clark, who, despite not having an ironclad argument to make the roster over those who did in a basketball sense, deserved a spot all the same because of how she draws viewers to the sport.

“The WNBA [needs the added attention]. You got a max salary of $250,000. [The attendance numbers] certainly wasn’t where you wanted it to be. Just the other day, you got a team in the Indiana Fever, with their struggling selves — no other team was worse other than the winless Washington Mystics — and they went from 4,000 in attendance to 17,000!” Smith exclaimed.

 

“This girl is box office! I said a rising tide lifts all boats. What you do [is include Caitlin Clark], especially if you’re Team USA and you’re trying to be globalized and there’s an opportunity to globalize the WNBA brand, so people like Brittney Griner and others don’t have to go to Russia in the offseason to play additional basketball to get extra income. They could stay right here if the sport elevates it popularity and you ladies start to get what you richly deserve!”

Stephen A. Smith went on to hammer his point home by saying that Team USA, regardless of who they selected to round out the final two spots of their 12-woman roster, would most likely have won gold at the Olympics anyway. After all, they have won seven gold medals for women’s basketball in a row.

 

Lightning in a bottle in the form of Caitlin Clark’s popularity doesn’t come around often for the WNBA. In fact, this scale of fame is unprecedented for the league. There may be strong justifications for both the Fever guard’s inclusion and exclusion from the Olympic roster, but it’s hard to argue that Smith does not make sense in this regard. Clark, however, should be a shoo-in for 2028 if she continues on her current trajectory.

Did Team USA not learn from history?

Stephen A. Smith also added that there’s a precedent for Team USA to prioritize marketing their brand on a more global scale than to make sure that every roster spot is filled by the most deserving candidate. Smith brought up the 1992 Dream Team’s inclusion of Christian Laettner, who, while being a decorated collegiate player, made it over the likes of Shaquille O’Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Dominique Wilkins, and Isiah Thomas, among a few other snubs.

“He was white! And he had his own cachet! He brought it to the table. He was a big-time collegiate player who was white and busting people’s you know what!” Smith added. “They couldn’t miss, and they didn’t need him! You had Jordan, you had Magic, you had everybody and you still picked that dude.”

 

Christian Laettner ended up playing in all eight games of the 1992 Dream Team’s unbeaten run in Barcelona. He averaged 7.6 minutes a night on mop-up duties as Team USA steamrolled the opposition, winning by an average margin of 44 points.

Given how dominant the women’s team has been throughout the course of the 21st century, Caitlin Clark could have played a similar role while drawing eyes to the competition. Clark would not be playing ahead of Team USA veteran Diana Taurasi, nor would she get more playing time than Sabrina Ionescu and Kelsey Plum. But the Fever guard’s minutes in the Olympics would have been must-see television.