“Caitlin’s Time Is Coming”: 52YO Coach Warns Fans of “Massive Explosion” After Matt Barnes Justifies Olympics Snub

A lot of criticism around Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, but Matt Barnes has a different approach. The former NBA star on his podcast acknowledged the Fever Rookie’s potential on his podcast. But looking at the present Olympics roster, he did not find a single player who he would replace with Clark. Adding to this chain of thought on All The Smoke’s Unplugged podcast was basketball coach Phil Handy.

Handy acknowledged Clark’s fanbase, which he believes is worldwide now and it has had its impact on women’s basketball. “The women’s game is about to be on a massive explosion,” he said. As for Clark’s Olympics snub, Handy mentioned on the Podcast, “Caitlin’s time is coming. She knows it. What I love about her attitude is that she like, ‘Yo, man, I’m gonna keep working. I’m gonna keep doing what I’m doing. I love the game.'” He further claimed even if not this one, the 22-year-old will be there in the next Olympics.

Notably, when the Fever rookie confirmed to CNN that she did not make it to the roster, she also added that this serves as a motivation for her to work further. “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,” she said. However, there are some who believe that the 22-year-old should’ve been on the roster this year itself.

Among them, one is former NBA star Gilbert Arenas, who had his focus on what Clark could’ve done for the marketing of women’s basketball. “… million people won’t be viewing if she’s not on the team. Do you think you can sell more jerseys without her or with her?” he said on Gil’s Arena. Meanwhile, Stephen A. Smith mentioned Clark does not deserve a spot over seasoned WNBA stars.

However, Smith still termed the move ‘idiotic’ considering Caitlin can provide the growth the women’s basketball presently needs. “… I will personally label ‘The Idiocy of Team USA Women’s Basketball.’ How dare you make this decision. It’s stupid,” he said on ‘First Take’. After all these opinions and a heavy backlash against the USA Women’s Basketball, the org has now responded with their reasoning.

Clark on Olympics roster would’ve been “irresponsible” move: Selection Committee Chairperson

It is worth mentioning the US Women’s team has had an impeccable record in the Olympics. So much so that the team has lost no game at the Olympics since 1992. Additionally, they have also won gold in all but two of their Olympics appearances.

So it is understandable that the selection committee would want to preserve this legacy. This was something that also reflected in selection committee chair Jen Rizzotti’s response against all the criticism of Clark not being on the team. “It would be irresponsible for us to talk about [Clark] in a way other than how she would impact the play of the team,” Rizzotti said via the AP.

“Because it wasn’t the purview of our committee to decide how many people would watch or how many people would root for the U.S. It was our purview to create the best team we could for Cheryl (head coach),” Rizzotti added. The current reported roster includes Breanna Stewart, Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner, Chelsea Gray, A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, Napheesa Collier, Kahleah Cooper, Sabrina Ionescu, Jewell Loyd, Alyssa Thomas, and Jackie Young.

Stay tuned for more such updates. And to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the Reese-Clark rivalry and more, watch this video.