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Indiana Fever rookie guard Caitlin Clark could still be added to USA Basketball's official roster for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics with one of its biggest stars in jeopardy.
Six-time Olympian Diana Taurasi has been inactive for the Phoenix Mercury's last four games and is expected to miss Friday's (July 12) matchup against Clark and the Fever due to a leg injury. Taurasi, 42, has not been ruled out for the upcoming Paris Olympics, but could be replaced by Clark, 22, who was selected as an alternate, should she be unable to compete.
Last month, Casey Wasserman, president of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, as well as the head of the sports marketing and management company bearing his name, referred to Clark's exclusion from the USA Basketball roster as "a missed opportunity."
“I think it’s a missed opportunity because she’s clearly a generational talent at a time when the world was ready for it,” Wasserman said during the U.S. Olympic swimming trials via USA TODAY. “There have been incredible talents in the world, shame on all of us, the world wasn’t in a place to embrace that,” Wasserman said. “Take Diana (Taurasi) or Breanna Stewart, or some of our (Wasserman) clients who are going to be on the team. They are dominant at a level that’s never been seen before but the world wasn’t ready to fill a building like Caitlin Clark did for whatever, the Final Four.
“Now you have both those things and so that’s a powerful opportunity and I just think it would have been an opportunity to elevate the women’s team but I understand the other side of it, which is it’s an independent process and it’s hard to get in the way of telling (the coach and the committee) what to do.”
Clark was selected by the Fever at No. 1 overall in the 2024 WNBA Draft in April and has averaged 16.7 points, 7.6 assists and 5.9 rebounds through her first 23 games. The former University of Iowa standout is the all-time leading scorer in NCAA basketball history and her collegiate dominance has led to a significant spike in the popularity of women's basketball.
Clark is scheduled to represent Team WNBA against the USA Basketball team at the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game on July 20 ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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