NBA Commissioner Adam Silver joins Celtics Pregame Live and share his thoughts on the controversial decision to leave Caitlin Clark off the 2024 Olympic team
Team USA's women's basketball roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics reportedly has been finalized, and rookie sensation Caitlin Clark has confirmed she was not one of the 12 players selected.
While many were surprised by Clark's Olympic team omission, NBA commissioner Adam Silver seems confident in Team USA's selection committee, as he explained on NBC Sports Boston's Celtics Pregame Live ahead of Game 2 of the Finals.
"I'd only say for either the NBA or the WNBA -- we didn't get a vote," Silver noted of the roster selection. "USA Basketball is separate. It's hard to second-guess that committee, there's enormous talent -- it's deep."
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The roster reportedly is headlined by the likes of A'ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner, and seven other extremely talented and proven women. Despite a strong draft class, no other rookies were selected.
Despite Clark's obvious talent -- she finished as the highest scorer in NCAA history with 3,951 career points -- the decision to leave her off of the roster reportedly stemmed from another possible issue: her fans.
According to USA Today's Christine Brennan, Team USA was concerned about how Clark's fans would react to her limited playing time. With such a loaded roster, Clark likely would have seen just a small role and competed for limited playing time.
While Clark dominated at the college level, breaking multiple records with averages of 31.6 points, 8.9 assists, and 7.4 rebounds per game in her senior season, she has struggled to have the same impact at the WNBA level. Still just 12 games into the season, Clark has posted 16.8 points, 6.3 assists, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game.
Comparing Clark to the rest of her draft class, ESPN's most recent rookie ranking placed her at No. 6, with her former Iowa teammate Kate Martin coming in ahead of her at No. 3. Cameron Brink and Angel Reese finished at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.
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"The committee set out to make their decisions, but there's no doubt Caitlin Clark is a transcendent talent," Silver added of the 2024 No. 1 pick. "It's fun to watch her, she has a huge following coming in, I'm sure she would have had a huge following [at the Olympics], but I think she understands as well that she's going to be a rising talent for years to come."
Clark took the snub with grace, stating that she will use it as motivation as something to work for in the future, although she did apparently tell Fever head coach Christie Sides, "They woke a monster."
The women's Team USA roster will look to win their eighth consecutive gold medal -- tenth all-time -- when the 2024 Paris Olympics tip off in July.
Check out Silver's full interview on Celtics Pregame Live in the YouTube video below.
