Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark is expected to be left off the Team USA women’s basketball roster for the upcoming Summer Olympics in Paris, David Eickholt of 247Sports confirms.
USA Today’s Christine Brennan first reported shortly after midnight Saturday.
Clark became the college basketball all-time leading scorer earlier this year, and she is currently putting up some impressive numbers in the WNBA.
In her first 14 games, she has averaged 16.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game. She has also already put up two 30-point games — one of them being during the Fever’s 85-83 win over the Washington Mystics in which she reached a career-high seven 3-pointers. With that performance, Clark became the fastest rookie in WNBA history to record 200+ points and 50+ assists.
Team USA has won the women’s basketball gold medal in each of the Summer Games since 1996 and, despite not having Clark, the Americans will once again be considered the favorites to win in Paris with a star-studded squad.
According to The Athletic, this is what the Team USA roster will look like.
- A’ja Wilson — Las Vegas Aces
- Breanna Stewart — New York Liberty
- Diana Taurasi — Phoenix Mercury
- Brittney Griner — Phoenix Mercury
- Alyssa Thomas — Connecticut Sun
- Napheesa Collier — Minnesota Lynx
- Jewell Loyd — Seattle Storm
- Kelsey Plum — Las Vegas Aces
- Jackie Young — Las Vegas Aces
- Sabrina Ionescu — New York Liberty
- Chelsea Gray — Las Vegas Aces
- Kahleah Copper — Phoenix Mercury
The Fever, currently 3-9, will not have any players represented in this 12-player Olympic roster. The Las Vegas Aces, the back-to-back WNBA champions, will have four players with A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young and Chelsey Gray.
The Phoenix Mercury is also well represented with three players, including Diana Taurasi, who already holds the record for the most Olympic titles in US basketball history with five gold medals dating back to Athens 2004.
