Caitlin Clark is being used by ‘so-called patriots’ as ‘avatar to lash out’ at black women, claims sports writer on ESPN amid Team USA Olympic row

Amid the debate over whether or not Caitlin Clark was cut from the U.S. Basketball Olympic team, there is an undercurrent of negative language toward those who made the roster.

None of this was perpetrated by Clark herself, but experts like Jason Whitlock have attributed her non-inclusion to the “black gay mafia” and “angry lesbians.”

It’s comments like these that Andscape senior writer David Dennis Jr. led to make an observation about the direction the discourse is going.

Appearing on the ESPN game show Around the Horn, Dennis was asked about his thoughts on Team USA’s mission and used his answer to point out his fear that Clark’s absence will be used to attack this roster.

“Yes, the mission statement [of USA Basketball] is to win gold medals and represent the United States as the game grows. The part about growing the game: for that you have to win gold medals.

Andscape’s David Dennis Jr. believes people are using Clark to “lash out” at “people they have contempt for: mainly the makeup of the WNBA, black women, et al.”

“As far as the history of U.S. women’s basketball goes, what they do is build a roster that best equips them to win gold medals.

“And there have been many players who have been rejected over time, including Candace Parker. And there could be a healthy sports debate about whether Caitlin Clark should make this team.

‘And I believe that she is not one of the fifteen best players available. Even if [Diana] Taurasi, whoever, wouldn’t be there, there would be a few people like Arike [Ogunbowale] which you could rank above Caitlin Clark.

“The problem here is, and what worries me going forward, is that there are people on the fringes who exist in real life – and not just internet trolls; politicians, pundits and the like – using Caitlin Clark as an avatar to lash out at the people they disdain: mainly the makeup of the WNBA, black women et al.

“And they’re using her to compete against Team USA. What’s going to happen in Team USA, that’s going to be the big tragedy here, is the way they’re treated by those people next summer.

“We must support America and American teams at the Olympic Games. I want to see that for this team, even if Caitlin Clark is not on that team.”

It’s not that Clark was left off the roster without merit; many believe she simply isn’t good enough to make the roster at this point.

Statistics support that. Of the seven guards who made the roster, all but one are higher on the WNBA scoring list than Clark. The only exception is Chelsea Gray, who is recovering from injury but was the league’s third-best assister last season.

A’ja Wilson is one of the players who will represent the United States in the Olympic Games

The only category in which Clark currently leads the WNBA is in turnovers. Averaging 5.6 turnovers per game, she is on pace to break the league’s single-season record for the dubious milestone.

It should also be noted that rookies rarely make the U.S. women’s basketball team due to its generally deep roster. Just Taurasi, Sylvia Fowles, Candace Parker and Breanna Stewart.

Clark might not even be the biggest opponent on this year’s Olympic team. That honor would more appropriately be given to Dallas Wings star Arike Ogunbowale – who has been one of the WNBA’s top scorers and is currently second in the league in points per game with 26.4.

But even if Ogunbowale and Clark are not on the roster, fans of the United States should have little to no concern about their ability to win the gold medal at these games in Paris.

The United States women’s basketball team has won gold at the last seven Olympic Games and has also won four consecutive FIBA ​​World Cup golds.

There was even one person who was willing to advocate for watching an American basketball team without Caitlin Clark: Caitlin Clark herself.

“I’m excited for the girls that are on the team. “I know this is the most competitive team in the world and I know it could have gone either way: I was on the team and I wasn’t on the team,” she said, via The Athletic.

“So I’m excited for them. I’m going to encourage them to win gold. I was a kid who grew up watching the Olympics. So yeah, it’ll be fun to see them.”