Caitlin Clark left off USA Roster

[jc23]

If this isn't a classic case of Eminem 2.0 I don't know what is. Good NCAA player comes into the league and instantly people who know nothing about the WNBA (like eminem stans and their lack of hip hop history knowledge) crown her the best of the league when A'Ja Wilson and others have been tearing up the league for a min now.

As pointed out, I'd argue Reese, who is also a rookie, is having a better season currently than Clark, let alone the veterans who are definitely better than her right now. She has no place on the Olympic roster.

is there anyone on this board who is claiming Clark as the best player in the league? Ive seen Reese play a few times and she might better to those who know the womens game more then i do, but she most assuredly is not the draw that CC is. Her layups hurt my soul.

Yeah, her offensive game is not the best atm, but she makes up for it in defense, rebounds and leadership. She may already be the Sky's best player.

4th in rebounds in the entire wnba
5th in steals in the entire wnba

As a fellow Bulls fan I encourage you to watch more Sky games. She's fun to watch. I get strong Noah vibes from her. Great energy, defense, rebounder, leadership.

That plus we also have rookie Cardoso who's a beast as well. They're gonna be a fun duo to watch as wait for the Bulls to get back on track

Like rookie Noah she needs to grow up, refusing to talk to reporters is a sign of immaturity. One of my issues with the womens game is so many of the bigs are clunky. Then you look at Aja Wilson who is as smooth as silk. Reminds me of the bigs in the NBA before they adapted to the new rules and became more dynamic.

CC brought me to the dance so that is who i intend to dance with; ill probably catch plenty of sky games tho.

[MrBigShot]

I didn't mind her before, I never had interest in women's basketball before, just followed it from afar.

But now I sense there's some jealousy and racism towards her, so I'm rooting for her.

I don't know why she was left out of the USA roster specifically, though.

There 1000% is jealousy and racism towards her. Pretty easy to figure out why the WNBA hasn't been successful until this season. The players themselves are trying SO hard to tear down the best thing to ever happen to the WNBA.

And there is a 0% chance that every player going to the olympics is better than her. Although she's had growing pains, she has the entire defense's attention at all times and like all promising rookies she will be a considerably better player by the end of the season.

[DOT]

lol

"We're concerned that having Clark on the roster and playing her limited minutes would lead to backlash from her fans"

Me, an intellectual: "WHY NO PUT CLARK ON TEAM WHEN CORRECT RESPONSE OBVIOUSLY PLAY HER LIMITED MINTUES"

It's even worse when you put the actual quote in your post. Like, I swear, dudes either don't actually read what they quote or they have no reading comprehension skills.

[DOT]

The players themselves are trying SO hard to tear down the best thing to ever happen to the WNBA.

No they're not

Jesus f*cking Christ you people.

[BigGargamel]

The Clark slobbing needs to stop already. She's not even the best rookie in the WNBA, let alone one of the 12 best American woman players alive. Adding her to the roster would be like adding Christian Laettner to the Dream Team. People need to stop this nonsense and just let Clark's legacy develop naturally, but we are wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy past that point now. It's an absolute sideshow and always will be.

[xchange55]

Anyways, her exclusion is a huge missed opportunity for women's basketball (not just Team US). Like her or not, she's single handedly making it more relevant and profitable, which is ironically what these anti-Caitlin Clark WNBA stars were complaining about all the time... I guess they prefer to be less relevant rather than seeing spotlights on her.

It's really quite sad to see the jealousy. In my lifetime, I've experienced generational talents and personalities such as Gretzky, Tyson, Jordan, Woods, Curry and Clark truly lift their sport to another level (Hulk Hogan too if that counts!). We all know the WNBA has been a flailing league and I don't think there are many who believed this league can succeed long term. Out of nowhere comes Clark, TV ratings are way up, ticket sales are way up.

But the WBNA and the larger women's basketball sport now have to balance, Clark or almost EVERY other player who despises her - who do we side with? The NBA can probably always afford to support the WNBA. But if WNBA was independent, they would have folded long ago, and from today on would fold long before the next Clark appears.

As a sports fan, I've always been aware of players such as Taurasi, Parker, S Bird, Swoopes, Leslie etc. I NEVER had any interest in watching their games. I did tune in to some Iowa games just to see what all the buzz was about and I was not disappointed. I have heard so many other people say the same and well the ratings is really the evidence.

You also have to wonder if Clark would even want to be in this group. I mean they might not even talk to her, hard foul her in practice or not pass to her. Forget that it's basketball, in any life situation, would you want to be around people who despise you?

[Billy Goat]

Basketball wise, and check me if I’m crazy wrong WNBA hardcore fans, I don’t think it would be all that crazy to say this is akin to people clamoring for Jordan Poole to be on the Olympic team.

Except with way more turnovers.

Despite her being the primary reason I’m paying way more attention, I can see the reality. She’s just not good enough yet, and that’s normal.

The people who are gonna lose interest because Caitlin Clark isn’t an Olympian aren’t paying attention anyway.

Seriously, if you weren’t already tuning in after Iowa and March Madness and against a big name like Angel/the defending champs, you really think people are going to make appointment viewing for tape delayed games against no name opponents that are getting blown out of the water by 50 points every game? Nah, I ain’t buying that at all.

She's 13th in the league in scoring and 4th in assists (per game).
She's struggled with efficiency and turnovers, but giving her a Jordan Poole comp is a pretty wild take (you mean Wizards Poole, right? He was pretty good in 21-22).
I wouldn't pay much attention to the posters saying she is actually a bad WNBA player or has been outperformed by rookies like Cam Brinks lol. That's not true at all. She's clearly been the most impactful rookie and everyone else would trade their rookie and an extra FRP for her without hesitation.
She's closer to last season Wemby than last season Poole. She's not a top-12 player in the league, but is quite superior to several other starting guards in the league.
Some of her struggles can also be attributed to being on an absolute trash team. The previous #1 overall pick, Boston, has been way more disappointing this season imo, but she escapes the criticism because of the attention Clark gets.

I actually deleted “last year” from my post seeing just how abysmal Poole was last season. It would be ridiculous for there to be an outcry for even “good Poole” to be on the Olympic squad.

Her assist rate is strong, and I don’t know if anyone’s surprised there. But generally speaking the counting numbers on bad efficiency, on a bad team get absolutely crushed when people evaluate players in the men’s game.

Saying she has struggled with turnovers is glossing over the issue quite a bit. She’s the worst in the league by a lot. Per 36, she’s
averaging 25% more TOs than the 2nd worst player.

I’m a fan. She’s going to become a great player. She’s just plain not good enough yet though, and that’s not surprising for a rookie.

Like I said. If someone wasn’t paying attention already, there aren’t going to be many that are roped in by Paris.

She has played 12 total professional games. Any takeaways at this point are mostly meaningless considering the sample size. That being said leaving her off the roster when she’s on of the most popular athletes on the planet at the moment is silly and spiteful.

[Mephariel]

I didn't mind her before, I never had interest in women's basketball before, just followed it from afar.

But now I sense there's some jealousy and racism towards her, so I'm rooting for her.

I don't know why she was left out of the USA roster specifically, though.

There 1000% is jealousy and racism towards her. Pretty easy to figure out why the WNBA hasn't been successful until this season. The players themselves are trying SO hard to tear down the best thing to ever happen to the WNBA.

And there is a 0% chance that every player going to the olympics is better than her. Although she's had growing pains, she has the entire defense's attention at all times and like all promising rookies she will be a considerably better player by the end of the season.

Where are people getting this from?

"Tearing her down"
"Toxic bullying culture."

It is like people just woke up and figure out there is competition in sports. A couple of cheap shots and suddenly the entire WNBA is trying to take her down? This is why I don't think a large portion of Clark fans are WNBA fans. I think they are just Clark fans. So the whole logic that Clark fans will grow the WNBA is suspect.

To me, Clark is like Conor McGregor. On one hand, Conor at his peak elevated MMA's prominence. On the other hand, the moment he declines, the entire fanbase disappeared. I used to venture into the Sherdog forums a lot and I am shocked how quickly those Irish fans just left overnight.

[Mephariel]

Anyways, her exclusion is a huge missed opportunity for women's basketball (not just Team US). Like her or not, she's single handedly making it more relevant and profitable, which is ironically what these anti-Caitlin Clark WNBA stars were complaining about all the time... I guess they prefer to be less relevant rather than seeing spotlights on her.

It's really quite sad to see the jealousy. In my lifetime, I've experienced generational talents and personalities such as Gretzky, Tyson, Jordan, Woods, Curry and Clark truly lift their sport to another level (Hulk Hogan too if that counts!). We all know the WNBA has been a flailing league and I don't think there are many who believed this league can succeed long term. Out of nowhere comes Clark, TV ratings are way up, ticket sales are way up.

But the WBNA and the larger women's basketball sport now have to balance, Clark or almost EVERY other player who despises her - who do we side with? The NBA can probably always afford to support the WNBA. But if WNBA was independent, they would have folded long ago, and from today on would fold long before the next Clark appears.

As a sports fan, I've always been aware of players such as Taurasi, Parker, S Bird, Swoopes, Leslie etc. I NEVER had any interest in watching their games. I did tune in to some Iowa games just to see what all the buzz was about and I was not disappointed. I have heard so many other people say the same and well the ratings is really the evidence.

You also have to wonder if Clark would even want to be in this group. I mean they might not even talk to her, hard foul her in practice or not pass to her. Forget that it's basketball, in any life situation, would you want to be around people who despise you?

Again, this white knighting needs to stop. Isiah Thomas was hated by just about everybody and he had no issues playing in the NBA. Clark will be fine. Also, if what you said is true, then no, the WNBA can't survive long term. You can't rely on one player to carry your league. The WNBA is on the right track and Clark is one of the main reasons. But they need more next generation stars like Reese, Brink, and JuJu to come along for the ride.

[Billy Goat]

I didn't mind her before, I never had interest in women's basketball before, just followed it from afar.

But now I sense there's some jealousy and racism towards her, so I'm rooting for her.

I don't know why she was left out of the USA roster specifically, though.

There 1000% is jealousy and racism towards her. Pretty easy to figure out why the WNBA hasn't been successful until this season. The players themselves are trying SO hard to tear down the best thing to ever happen to the WNBA.

And there is a 0% chance that every player going to the olympics is better than her. Although she's had growing pains, she has the entire defense's attention at all times and like all promising rookies she will be a considerably better player by the end of the season.

Where are people getting this from?

"Tearing her down"
"Toxic bullying culture."

It is like people just woke up and figure out there is competition in sports. A couple of cheap shots and suddenly the entire WNBA is trying to take her down? This is why I don't think a large portion of Clark fans are WNBA fans. I think they are just Clark fans. So the whole logic that Clark fans will grow the WNBA is suspect.

To me, Clark is like Conor McGregor. On one hand, Conor at his peak elevated MMA's prominence. On the other hand, the moment he declines, the entire fanbase disappeared. I used to venture into the Sherdog forums a lot and I am shocked how quickly those Irish fans just left overnight.

Clark has played 12 total games and she’s Connor Mcgregor? lol

[xchange55]

Again, this white knighting needs to stop. Isiah Thomas was hated by just about everybody and he had no issues playing in the NBA. Clark will be fine. Also, if what you said is true, then no, the WNBA can't survive long term. You can't rely on one player to carry your league. The WNBA is on the right track and Clark is one of the main reasons. But they need more next generation stars like Reese, Brink, and JuJu to come along for the ride.

Sorry, Isiah Thomas was a great player, but he didn't make the game grow beyond the court. Bird and Magic helped and then Jordan launched it into the stratosphere. Clark is the closest thing the WNBA could have to Jordan, and by a longshot. You are correct that 1 player cannot carry the league long term. The point is the WNBA needs that first player to put them in the news - it's done. Now they can only hope that a base grows and other players will also get recognition. Thomas was hated because he spoke negatively of Jordan -for what jealously? It's no different than the current siutation with Clark.

My point is other players aren't helping themselves or the future of the league by cheap shotting Clark both on the and off the court. As competitors they shouldn't be handing her anything either. But why go out of your way to make comments with clearly negative connotations in the media? Pretty clear they are giving cheap shots on the court as well.

Let's be honest here, tens of millions aren't tuning in to NCAA women's baskeball for Resee/Brink/JJ - I keep seeing the same tshirt in the stands on those telecasts - it was blue and gold and has 22.

[shrink]

She has played 12 total professional games. Any takeaways at this point are mostly meaningless considering the sample size. That being said leaving her off the roster when she’s on of the most popular athletes on the planet at the moment is silly and spiteful.

If only she had played college ball, or Team USA at earlier age groups! If she had actually showed she could play basketball before those 12 games, instead of sitting on the couch eating Oreos, then we’d have a sample size that isn’t meaningless!

[CIN-C-STAR]

I didn't mind her before, I never had interest in women's basketball before, just followed it from afar.

But now I sense there's some jealousy and racism towards her, so I'm rooting for her.

I don't know why she was left out of the USA roster specifically, though.

There 1000% is jealousy and racism towards her. Pretty easy to figure out why the WNBA hasn't been successful until this season. The players themselves are trying SO hard to tear down the best thing to ever happen to the WNBA.

And there is a 0% chance that every player going to the olympics is better than her. Although she's had growing pains, she has the entire defense's attention at all times and like all promising rookies she will be a considerably better player by the end of the season.

Where are people getting this from?

"Tearing her down"
"Toxic bullying culture."

It is like people just woke up and figure out there is competition in sports. A couple of cheap shots and suddenly the entire WNBA is trying to take her down? This is why I don't think a large portion of Clark fans are WNBA fans. I think they are just Clark fans. So the whole logic that Clark fans will grow the WNBA is suspect.

To me, Clark is like Conor McGregor. On one hand, Conor at his peak elevated MMA's prominence. On the other hand, the moment he declines, the entire fanbase disappeared. I used to venture into the Sherdog forums a lot and I am shocked how quickly those Irish fans just left overnight.

Cheap shots are not competition though.
In fact I'd say cheap shots are often committed by players afraid of true competition, because they know they will get beat.
So let's not conflate the two.

[Clyde Frazier]

Read on Twitter

Great answer. She's a major public sports figure so there's obviously going to be a lot of discussion around her, but I find much of it to be projecting vs what she actually does/says. Or at the least I wish there was more discussion about her actual play (not talking about this board!)

[Wingy]

She has played 12 total professional games. Any takeaways at this point are mostly meaningless considering the sample size. That being said leaving her off the roster when she’s on of the most popular athletes on the planet at the moment is silly and spiteful.

Sure on the first couple sentences, yet it’s all we have to go on at this point.

Didn’t realize sports have become a popularity contest.

It was a basketball decision, not spite.

[Ice Man]

Clark is old-school gracious. She complains a bit while on the court about referee calls, but off the court her responses are impeccable, because unlike so many celebrities, both in sports and elsewhere, she is genuinely comfortable in her own skin, without anger and defensiveness. It's no wonder that the advertisers have lined up for her.

[Ice Man]

It was a basketball decision, not spite.

Yep. Same as rookie Shaq (well, entering rookie season) not being named to the Dream Team. I had no complaints then and I have no complaints now.

[GSWFan1994]

I didn't mind her before, I never had interest in women's basketball before, just followed it from afar.

But now I sense there's some jealousy and racism towards her, so I'm rooting for her.

I don't know why she was left out of the USA roster specifically, though.

There 1000% is jealousy and racism towards her. Pretty easy to figure out why the WNBA hasn't been successful until this season. The players themselves are trying SO hard to tear down the best thing to ever happen to the WNBA.

And there is a 0% chance that every player going to the olympics is better than her. Although she's had growing pains, she has the entire defense's attention at all times and like all promising rookies she will be a considerably better player by the end of the season.

[Billy Goat]

She has played 12 total professional games. Any takeaways at this point are mostly meaningless considering the sample size. That being said leaving her off the roster when she’s on of the most popular athletes on the planet at the moment is silly and spiteful.

Sure on the first couple sentences, yet it’s all we have to go on at this point.

Didn’t realize sports have become a popularity contest.

It was a basketball decision, not spite.

I mean it’s ok to be truthful and admit she was left off because of spite. That report from earlier basically admitted that. She’s probably better off not being on it anyways as they don’t want her there.

[Mephariel]

Again, this white knighting needs to stop. Isiah Thomas was hated by just about everybody and he had no issues playing in the NBA. Clark will be fine. Also, if what you said is true, then no, the WNBA can't survive long term. You can't rely on one player to carry your league. The WNBA is on the right track and Clark is one of the main reasons. But they need more next generation stars like Reese, Brink, and JuJu to come along for the ride.

Sorry, Isiah Thomas was a great player, but he didn't make the game grow beyond the court. Bird and Magic helped and then Jordan launched it into the stratosphere. Clark is the closest thing the WNBA could have to Jordan, and by a longshot. You are correct that 1 player cannot carry the league long term. The point is the WNBA needs that first player to put them in the news - it's done. Now they can only hope that a base grows and other players will also get recognition. Thomas was hated because he spoke negatively of Jordan -for what jealously? It's no different than the current siutation with Clark.

My point is other players aren't helping themselves or the future of the league by cheap shotting Clark both on the and off the court. As competitors they shouldn't be handing her anything either. But why go out of your way to make comments with clearly negative connotations in the media? Pretty clear they are giving cheap shots on the court as well.

Let's be honest here, tens of millions aren't tuning in to NCAA women's baskeball for Resee/Brink/JJ - I keep seeing the same tshirt in the stands on those telecasts - it was blue and gold and has 22.

Jordan was cheap shotted by the Pistons. He survived. He was spoken negatively to by Thomas according to you right? Guess what? Jordan is still the greatest player ever. He survived. Clark will too. She is not a helpless baby. There will always going to be the Draymonds and the Rodmans of sports. You act like the entire WNBA should be placing a crown on her head and roll out the red carpet for her to get a basket. This is competitive sports. If she can't take a cheap shot, she shouldn't be in the league. And like you said, you need Bird, Magic, Jordan, Lebron. You can't just have Jordan. The WNBA needs to highlight Clark AND the other stars too.

Again, Clark will be fine. I think she think so too. I think you interview her, she would agree she doesn't need 500,000 white knights kissing her feet protecting her.