As the Olympics draw near, it’s not who is representing the USA that is the big discussion right now. It’s about who is not. A good few can’t wrap their heads around the criteria that kept the record-breaking WNBA rookies, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese out of the Team USA roster. They’ve had the opportunity to play on Team USA at other events but their runs so far make everyone believe they deserved a shot at the Olympics. The panel at Gil’s Arena was poking holes at the Olympic team selection process. But they had to agree to disagree with Gilbert Arenas on whether the WNBA stars deserved a spot on the squad.

While doubling down, Arenas implied that Clark and Reese were denied the natural next step of their careers that LeBron James had. WNBA’s Lexie Brown was on the show questioning the team-building process and said that she hoped Clark and Reese would make it to the next Olympic team. That’s when Gilbert Arenas chimed in.

“They are recognizable when they played over right? You know, from the youth age, they were mega stars already. And then it carried over into college,” Arenas stated on Gil’s Arena. He’s referring to Reese winning silver at the 2023 FIBA AmeriCup and Clark winning golds at the FIBA U-19 and U-16 championships. According to Arenas, they have excelled at the youth level and the Olympics should’ve been a natural next step for them.

“It’s for exposure. That’s why I said they both should’ve been on there.” He reminded his fellow panelists that there is precedent warranting this exposure. “It’s about recognition… you want to walk like the men do, right? When Bron and them got put on that team it wasn’t cuz they was playin.’”

His co-host completed his sentence saying, “It’s cuz this is what’s to come.” LeBron James has had three Olympic appearances, winning bronze the first time and gold twice. He’s now on his fourth Olympic run. He’s also had two gold-winning FIBA runs. Most would agree it was a natural career trajectory for him and his then teammates. James said he’s rooting for Clark after the Olympics snub and said she’s walking the same path he did.

As per Arenas, the Olympics are about, “Hey yo, shake some hands, take some pictures, you go out there, we’ll win the games.” As two players in strong contention for WNBA Rookie of the Year, their exclusion still riles Arenas. It’s a stance he maintained since the roster was announced.

Gilbert Arenas mourns WNBA’s lost chance

Lexie Brown maintained that none of the current players on Team USA are replaceable with the rookies. While Arenas agreed, it’s the selection process along with the reason why Clark and Reese were excluded that he has a problem with. When they were left out last month, the supposed reason was that people would react negatively to the rookies having lesser playtime in Paris.

On the immediate episode of Gil’s Arena, the namesake slammed that notion. “You’re saying millions of people will be mad if she [Clark] doesn’t play a lot? Well, that means a million people won’t be viewing if she’s not on the team.”

He made the same argument about exposure then too. To put it simply, Arenas implies that the WNBA and the Team USA committee have let go of an opportunity to put women’s basketball on the world map.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.