Indiana Fever’s rising star Caitlin Clark has been left out of Team USA’s Olympic roster which the 22-year has labeled as ‘extra motivation’ to make it in the future.
“I think it just gives you something to work for,” Clark told reporters after practice on Sunday. “It’s a dream. Hopefully one day I can be there. I think it’s just a little more motivation. You remember that. Hopefully, when four years comes back around, I can be there.”
Clark, who was this year’s No.1 WNBA draft pick, said she has no regrets about the Olympic snub and said she was excited for all the players who have been picked for the Paris games.
“I’m excited for the girls that are on the team. I know it’s the most competitive team in the world and I know it could have gone either way of me being on the team, me not being on the team,” Clark said Sunday. “So you know, I’m excited for them. I’m going to be rooting them on to win gold. I was a kid who grew up watching the Olympics, so yeah, it’ll be fun to watch them.”
The rookie has had a breakthrough first season with the Fever averaging 16.8 points and 6.3 assists per game.
The Associated Press reported that Clark received a phone call informing her that she had not been called up for the Olympics. She also praised the management for informing every player before the Olympic Team was publically announced.
“They called me and let me know before everything came out, which was really respectful of them, and I appreciate that,” Clark said. “They did the same for every girl that made the team or every girl that didn’t make the team. There are a lot of players in the Olympic pool. It wasn’t like I was the only one they had to call. They had to make quite a few calls.”
However, there is still an outside chance that Clark will make it to the Olympics in case of an injury to any player as she has been picked in the U.S National team pool.
Fever coach Christie Sides said that Caitlin told her “Hey coach, they woke a monster” during Fever’s game against Washington Mystics. She scored 30 points in that match including record-tying seven three-pointers as the Fever won 85-83.
She will now turn her attention towards the WNBA season and will try to take Indiana Fever to the playoff from the Eastern Conference.
Mohd Faisal Hakak is a sports author from Kashmir. He likes to keep tabs on the sporting world with a keen interest in football, motorsports, NBA, and other marquee sports. He is a science graduate from Islamia College Srinagar.
