Caitlin Clark is being left off the U.S. women’s basketball Olympic team, and it’s for a pretty ridiculous reason.
Christine Brennan published a story on Saturday in which she said that Clark was left off in part because USA Basketball feared backlash from Clark’s millions of fans if the Indiana Fever guard only saw limited action during the Olympics. In other words, Clark is too popular for USA Basketball, and they can’t figure out how to handle her, so they’re leaving her off entirely
In her story, Brennan pointed out how little media coverage women’s basketball tends to receive at the Olympics, and how Clark’s presence on the team would have changed that.
The women’s basketball world has been demanding increases in pay and better travel conditions (such as charter flights). Now they have game-changing star in the league, and they bully her on the court and then decline to showcase her on the global stage.