Love her or hate her, Caitlin Clark is here to stay. The Indiana Fever star will be the first to admit that she’s experienced some early growing pains during her rookie season in the WNBA. But she’s also coming off her best performance yet, her first 30-point game, and she’s just 12 games into her career.
However, eventually, the WNBA season will come to an end, and then the next step for women’s basketball will be turning their attention to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Based on Clark’s skillset, the early presumption was that the former Iowa basketball star would be a lock for the final roster, but that may no longer be the case.
According to the Athletic’s Shams Charania, now Clark is expected to be left off the Team USA women’s basketball roster for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
The 12-woman roster is expected to feature other established stars such as A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner, Alyssa Thomas, Napheesa Collier, Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young, Sabrina Ionescu, Chelsea Gray, and Kelsey Copper. Many of these women are featured on the WNBA’s highest-paid player list, so it won’t be a surprise to see their names on the Team USA roster too.
With or without Clark, Team USA should be in good hands, as they’ve won Gold medals at each Olympic event since 1996, and they head to Paris as favorites once again.
However, if an alternate is needed, Clark could still be called upon, but she may be in competition with Brionna Jones and Aliyah Boston for one of, if not the final roster spot.
Related: Draymond Green gives Indiana Fever advice on dealing with WNBA’s disrespect for Caitlin Clark