The roster for the United States women's basketball team at the 2024 Summer Olympics has been chosen, and it will reportedly not include Indiana Fever star and WNBA rookie sensation Caitlin Clark.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, the 12-woman roster for the 2024 Summer Games in Paris is as follows:
- A'ja Wilson (Las Vegas Aces)
- Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury)
- Brittney Griner (Phoenix Mercury)
- Sabrina Ionescu (New York Liberty)
- Breanna Stewart (New York Liberty)
- Kelsey Plum (Las Vegas Aces)
- Alyssa Thomas (Connecticut Sun)
- Napheesa Collier (Minnesota Lynx)
- Jewell Loyd (Seattle Storm)
- Jackie Young (Las Vegas Aces)
- Chelsea Gray (Las Vegas Aces)
- Kahleah Copper (Phoenix Mercury)
Team USA will be vying for its eighth consecutive gold medal at the Olympics, and its 10th gold medal overall since women's basketball was added to the Olympic program in 1976.
Wilson and Stewart will perhaps be the two biggest keys to Team USA's success in France since they have been the WNBA's best players in recent years.
Wilson was the WNBA MVP in 2020 and 2022, plus she has won back-to-back WNBA championships and WNBA Defensive Player of the Year awards. She was also the 2023 WNBA Finals MVP.
The South Carolina star may be trending toward a third WNBA MVP Award this season with averages of 28.0 points and 12.3 rebounds per game.
In her first season with the Liberty last year after spending her first six WNBA seasons with the Storm, Stewart was named WNBA MVP for the second time in her career.
She led New York to the WNBA Finals, and although the Liberty fell short, they seem poised to be contenders for years to come with Stewart leading the way.
Taurasi, 41, continues to produce in the WNBA, and she will have a chance to make history in Paris.
Currently, Taurasi is tied with retired WNBA legend Sue Bird for the most Olympic gold medals in women's basketball with five. If the heavily favored Americans win gold this summer as expected, Taurasi will break the tie and become a record six-time gold medalist.
Many expected Clark to be part of the team since she is arguably the greatest player in women's college basketball history.
Clark won back-to-back National College Player of the Year awards at Iowa, and she left the Hawkeyes as the all-time leading scorer across both women's and men's Division I college basketball history.
The Fever selected Clark first overall in the 2024 WNBA draft, and although she has played well with averages of 6.8 points, 6.3 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game, she is shooting just 37.0 percent from the field and the Fever are off to a 3-9 start.
Christine Brennan of USA Today reported Saturday that two sources indicated the decision to leave Clark off the roster stemmed from "concern over how Clark's millions of fans would react to what would likely be limited playing time on a stacked roster."
Snubbing a player of Clark's talent is a controversial decision, but given the top-to-bottom talent of Team USA's roster, they will be heavy favorites to win gold in Paris nonetheless.
