Dawn Staley Says If USA Basketball Had To Do It All Over Again, Caitlin Clark Would Be In “Really High Consideration Of Making The Team”

So Dawn Staley, who just two weeks ago said that Angel Reese was “no doubt” the WNBA Rookie of the Year despite the odds being about -1800 for Caitlin Clark to do so because the numbers differential is so drastic, has now backtracked on Team USA’s decision to exclude Caitlin from the team. And let me say this: her argument as to why things have changed in the last month and a half is bullshit and is not accepted.

First of all, the idea that Caitlin hadn’t shown what she was capable of through June 9th of her rookie season is laughable. Dawn, you watched her put up 41 points in the Final Four last year and ruin your perfect season. Then this year, when your team had players 2-6 on the court at all times, she put up an all-time record 18 points in the first quarter before you threw the house at her and she still finished with 30. Let’s not act like you were unaware that the girl could play. But even if you wanted to see it in the pros, at the time of the decision, she did more than enough to show you she deserved a spot on the team:

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So no, the fact of the matter is that Caitlin was a glaring omission from the team because of a few reasons, none of which included her talent or her popularity or her ability to grow the game. They were:

1. The older players are jealous of the attention she gets, since they thought they deserved it all this time

2. Cheryl Reeve absolutely hates her, and it’s the most obvious thing in the world

3. The team will win with or without her, so they didn’t want to include her and have her be the center of attention

There’s no other reasons. But the reasons on the other side of the teeter-totter are so heavy that it will never ever leave the ground again.

Well that’s just about the craziest stat I’ve ever seen. Caitlin Clark has played 26 WNBA games in her life and has more career assists than 75.4% of all players. Not good enough for the Olympics though! Well, now she is. After 26 games. But after 12 it wasn’t even a discussion.

I wish Caitlin would stop taking the high road just one time in her life. I love that she does and it doesn’t seem like she’ll ever change, but how can someone be the most popular player in league history and still get this much unwarranted hate?