Caitlin Clark Needs To Be On The USA Women's Basketball Team
Updated: Jun 9
On June 3, 2013, Yasiel Puig made his major league debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He played 38 games before the All-Star break, hitting .391 with eight home runs and 19 RBIs. The team went 23-15 during that stretch, but more importantly, there was a heightened interest in the game when he was playing. A large faction of not just Dodgers fans, but baseball fans, wanted to see Puig during the All-Star break.
The MLB commented on the situation, stating that Puig had not played enough games to qualify for the mid-season game. They failed to realize that their boring product was not capturing the younger demographic, and even having Puig in the homerun derby would have given them exposure to an audience they needed to target. They missed the boat, and if Caitlin Clark is left off the USA Women's basketball team, then the WNBA and women's basketball as a whole will have made the same mistake.
In a report by The Athletic, Clark is expected to be left off the roster by head coach Cheryl Reeve. Her staff is allegedly favoring players with more experience, particularly in international basketball.
USA Basketball Doesn't Need Clark So They Can Win
Team USA has won the last seven gold medals at the Olympics, and the last four World Cups. They are 54-0 in Olympic matches since 1996. During the 2020 games, they won every contest by an average of over 19 points per game. With or without Caitlin Clark, there is no reason to believe the team won't bring home the 2024 gold medal.
This year's squad is loaded from top to bottom, and led by arguably the best player in the world, A'ja Wilson. She is currently averaging 28 points and 12.3 rebounds for the Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA. She will be joined on the team by Breanna Stewart, Diana Turasi, Brittney Griner, Alyssa Thomas, Napeesha Collier, Jewell Lloyd, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young, Sabrina Ionescu, Chelsea Gray, and Kahlea Cooper.
While it could be argued that Caitlin Clark is having a better season than Gray and Turasi, there is no arguing their pedigree. Gray is a three-time WNBA champion who won a gold medal in 2020, and Turasi (an outspoken opponent of Clark's) is a shoo-in for the Basketball Hall of Fame. It's hard to imagine what a rookie could bring to this team that they don't already have.
USA Basketball Needs Caitlin Clark So They Can Grow The Game
Despite A'ja Wilson's incredible statistics and Angel Reese's comments, Caitlin Clark is the biggest star in women's basketball right now. That popularity could be from the way she plays the game, or it could be a matter of race, as suggested by Stadium Rant in a previous article. Whatever the reason, Clark is fueling women's basketball like a rocket ship headed for Mars.
In 2023 the league champion Aces average attendance was 9,551. That's how many people wanted to see the best team and the best player, live and in person, on their way to a championship. This season, the league's worst team, the Indiana Fever, is averaging 16,571 fans per game (33% more than the second-place Liberty, and 60% more than the Aces). Caitlin Clark plays for the Fever.
Earlier this year, Clark's jersey sold more units in a day than the Dallas Cowboys sold as a team in all of 2023. She outsold America's Team. Clark's impact on the game is undeniable, and it's been 100% positive, regardless of what any report might say. Adding her to Team USA may not play a part in the outcome of the games, but it will give huge exposure, on the world's biggest stage, to a league that needs all the help it can get.
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