After the NCAA, the WNBA, Caitlin Clark would she discover a new environment with the Olympic Games and the national team, in just a few months? Obviously not, according to information from The Athletic.
The Indiana Fever player, invited to training camp like thirteen others in March (without being able to come, blocked by the NCAA Final Four), will soon have her place assured or almost assured in the best team in the women's world, but not this year. Just like her teammate Aliyah Boston, rookie of the year in 2023.
For what ? Because the federation preferred to rely on experience and continuity with, according to our colleagues, the selections of A'ja Wilson (who is working in the league at the moment), Breanna Stewart, Diana Taurasi (who will have 42 years old this summer), Brittney Griner, Alyssa Thomas, Napheesa Collier, Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum, but also Jackie Young, Sabrina Ionescu, Chelsea Gray and Kahleah Copper.
A package to get a place?
Of the twelve players mentioned, seven have already played the Olympic Games in 5×5, plus two (Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young) in 3×3 in Tokyo. There are therefore only three players without Olympic experience: Alyssa Thomas, Sabrina Ionescu and Kahleah Copper.
Then, undoubtedly its somewhat delicate start to the season in the WNBA did not help, while the team is already united around two franchises: the Las Vegas Aces (four players) and the Mercury Phoenix (three).
But it's still not completely impossible to see Caitlin Clark at the Paris Olympics, because Chelsea Gray injured her leg during the 2023 Finals and she has yet to return this season. Certainly, she was present at the last training camp and in good shape, she will start. But if she has to withdraw before the competition, perhaps the leading scorer in NCAA history will get her chance.
