After the last lineup for the U.S., the Caitlin Clark conversation reached yet another level. S. women’s sports team, set to play at the approaching Paris Olympics, was revealed later Friday evening. The Indiana Fever quarterback was not among the 12 named to the lineup, a team that includes WNBA celebrities such as A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Kelsey Plum, Sabrina Ionescu and Diana Taurasi. Vocal Clark supporters and some well-known media figures claim that USA Basketball, which builds teams for foreign competition, has wasted a sizable opportunity to promote women’s basketball at the highest level by not including her on the group. “The [WNBA ] needs more eyes on it. Nothing has done a better job of that than Caitlin Clark, ” Bob Dorfman—a former activities marketing researcher, author and creative director—said in a telephone meeting. She seems to have a bit of anger toward how she sort of came in and took control. There’s, I guess, some bitterness, but on the other hand, what she’s done for the club is essential. Large crowds, record breaking presence, record breaking rankings. In that regard, you kind of have to be that if you want people to watch the staff at the Olympics. Dorfman acknowledged that Clark would n’t have played a lot because Team USA is stacked up, but he thinks those first few minutes would have produced significant television results. “You’re going to get an audience that ’s not necessarily a big hardcore ( basketball ) audience, because it ’s the Olympics. If you really want to enhance the business, build the industry, getting more fans, getting more people excited about women’s basketball, it definitely feels like she’s got to be there. ” But not everyone sees this as a big missed option. Rick Burton—the David B. Professor of Sport Management at Syracuse University who was the country’s main selling agent. S. The Olympic Committee for the 2008 Beijing Olympics believes that Clark’s decision to not be chosen was about balancing merit and team focus, and that the attention Clark would bring could n’t outweigh her lack of experience. She was amazing in college, but she has n’t been the best player in the WNBA, according to Burton in a phone interview. “She is simply learning to be a specialist. I believe that when USA Basketball was weighing her, did they choose her because she was well-known or because she was one of the 12 best players they may bring to the type of activity the coach desired to play? Based on the other people they were going to pick, USA Basketball would have been considering this team’s science and cohesion. Burton made sure to mention that the wider U. S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee had no effect on USA Basketball’s options. Clark was unable to participate with the group in April because Team USA’s last training camp occurred at the same time as the Women’s Final Four, which marked the end of her brilliant academic career. The group that mind manager Cheryl Reeve and her team have assembled is a lot like the WNBA or college, with a lot of experience in international play. Also, not all the interest that has followed Clark has been good interest, something that the shield herself has acknowledged after a recent Fever process. The hard terrible Chicago Sky watch Chennedy Carter committed against Clark checked every box for controversy, yet drawing the ire of a previous WNBA owner and a current U.S. citizen. S. congressman from Indiana. “ I think that in the short term, [ USA Basketball ] believe the values that she would bring might be offset by a number of other issues, ” Burton said. Without being perhaps the best player on the team, she would become a media force. Imagine if Clark got hip-checked late in a preliminary round game against Belgium, if you thought there was outrage for a WNBA game. Would the resulting outcry be worthwhile on a global scale? “The fact is, we’re still talking about it that foul and ultimately that ’s good, ” Dorfman said. “The WNBA is in the news, and the staying in the news. Dorfman also suggested Brittney Griner, who will be playing overseas for the first time since being freed from her 2022 detention in Russia, may already be a potential distraction on the current roster. The USA Basketball women’s senior team, which has n’t lost an Olympic match since 1992 and has n’t lost in international competition since 2006, is expected to win an eighth consecutive gold medal in a grueling match between Australia, Spain, and France. The sheer dominance of the women’s hoops team has n’t gotten the same marketing buzz compared to not only their male counterparts in basketball but fellow USA teams in women’s gymnastics, swimming ( men and women ) and even women’s soccer. Could the Paris Games offer the players who were actually chosen more sponsorship and business opportunities? Dorfman expressed concern that the dominance of the team could harm its exposure, adding that the Olympics could benefit almost all of the team’s younger members, such as Ionescu, Plum, or Jackie Young. How likely is it that they will win every game, the question is? ” he said. “Some of the excitement with the men’s team now is that there’s competition, and so the games are interesting because there’s international teams that can beat them. So in that sense, maybe it’ll be more interesting if the games are close. If some other teams do n’t run away with it as much as everyone expects, there are some who can give them good games. ” Regardless, Team USA should still expect a sizable audience if it reaches the gold medal game as expected. During the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, 7. The final between Japan and Japan, which at the time had the highest number of viewers for any kind of women’s basketball game in at least five years, was watched by 9 million people. ( The U. S. men’s team drew 9. 2 million in their final against France. ) Going back to 2012, 10. 2 million people watched the U.S. S. women win gold at the London Games against France. “Women’s basketball is as strong as it ’s ever been, and the American team is going to be great, whether Caitlin is on that team or not, ” Burton said. They have their own marketing strategy, according to the Olympic team. NBC is going to hype the women’s games. There are 12 other great players on the women’s team, and they will be hyped appropriately. ”