The US women’s basketball team may have won gold at the Paris Olympics, but the debate over the team’s rejection of Caitlin Clark has not gone away.
Clark, the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s WNBA Draft by the Indiana Fever, has skyrocketed the league’s popularity to new heights in her rookie season thanks to her skills and rivalry with Angel Reese, the No. 7 overall pick by the Chicago Sky.
Clark and Reese are locked in a battle for WNBA Rookie of the Year, with the season resuming Thursday when Reese and Sky take on the Phoenix Mercury. But instead of taking a month off, Smith believes they both should have been in France.
“I just think that if you look at Team USA basketball, I still think Caitlin Clark should have been on the team,” Smith said. “And to a lesser extent, Angel Reese. I think she should have been on the team. But definitely Caitlin Clark.”
Clark was missing from the squad because he missed USA training this year due to commitments in the NCAA tournament with Iowa.
Stephen A. Smith thinks Caitlin Clark should have been on the US women’s basketball team
Smith also said that Angel Reese from the Chicago Sky should have been there in Paris
And the American team did just fine without her, winning the final 67-66 against host country France for Olympic gold.
Smith continued: “Congratulations to them – it was a lot more exciting than it needed to be. They did it. I just felt like Caitlin Clark had to be on this team.
‘I’m not running away from it. You came home with gold, you’ve got your affairs in order.
‘The ladies represented us well, they always do.
“But when you talk about the marketing of the sport, I think Team USA missed an opportunity to raise the profile of the excellence of women in basketball.”
Clark returns to WNBA play one day after Reese when the Indiana Fever plays the Phoenix Mercury on Friday night.
Reese went on vacation during the WNBA break, and so did Clark. She also made a quick trip to New York over the weekend to watch the Yankees play.
She also met Aaron Judge and watched from the stands as the Yankees defeated the World Series winner Texas Rangers.
Clark and Reese are widely expected to lead the US team at the next Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028.