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USA Today via Reuters
May 16, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) objects to a call by a referee, Thursday, May 16, 2024, during the Indiana Fever home opener game against the New York Liberty at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Mandatory Credit: Grace Hollars-USA TODAY Sports
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USA Today via Reuters
May 16, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) objects to a call by a referee, Thursday, May 16, 2024, during the Indiana Fever home opener game against the New York Liberty at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Mandatory Credit: Grace Hollars-USA TODAY Sports
“How do you not take her to Paris?” WNBA legend Rebecca Lobo and many other eminent basketball names had the same reaction when they first heard of Caitlin Clark’s Team USA snub. While the Indiana Fever rookie was disappointed with the decision, she said it gave her motivation to do better. However, not everyone in the basketball world is over it. When the doors of opportunity opened up for the 2x NPOY to be an Olympian owing to an injury to Diana Taurasi, Colin Cowherd gave his suggestion as to how they should proceed with it.
The podcast host on FS1 Colin Cowherd thrashed women’s basketball for not utilizing their “Taylor Swift.” When the topic of correcting their mistake of not taking Caitlin Clark with Team USA came, he said on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, “Get her on the Olympic team. You missed the first time, do it the second time. You’re doing yourself a favor.” Here, Cowherd was pointing out the fact that Diana Taurasi was injured.
The 6x Olympian has not played the last few games for the Phoenix Mercury. When the 42-year-old point guard returned for their game against the Washington Mystics, she only played for 25 minutes. Since both the WNBA stars play at the same position and have comparable stats, this seems to be the golden opportunity for Team USA to replace Diana Taurasi with Caitlin Clark. Especially considering the team will leave for Paris in just a week’s time.
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Cowherd also accused the WNBA of not preparing for Caitlin Clark. This was despite knowing very early that she would be the first overall pick. He said, “It reminds me of when Taylor Swift became a billionaire with the ‘Eras Tour’, and in ten minutes they couldn’t supply enough tickets and Ticketmaster had to apologize. They were completely overwhelmed, and I think that’s what women’s basketball was with Caitlin Clark.”
Polls of the day
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USA Today via Reuters
Jun 1, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) reacts after a call during a game against the Chicago Sky during a game at Grainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Michelle Pemberton/INDIANAPOLIS STAR-USA TODAY Sports
The Eras Tour singer is not the point of conversation just because the Fever rookie loves her. Cowherd mentioned Taylor Swift because she has the ability to sell tickets quickly and popularize venues. Something similar is the case with Caitlin Clark.
Colin Cowherd’s Taylor Swift analogy for Caitlin Clark
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While everyone knows about her draft night jersey sales, most recently, her All-Star jerseys also sold out in mere 17 minutes. Moreover, the entire Indiana Fever team has set a new WNBA single-season record for home and away attendance. So far, 409,217 fans have come to see the team play and it is not even the All-Star break where the WNBA season will halt. Of course, it is the Caitlin Clark effect.
In fact, even the Minnesota Lynx and the Team USA agreed on her impact on basketball. After Caitlin Clark’s fans turned the Target Center into another home-like game for the visiting Indiana Fever, Cheryl Reeve said, “Everybody knows that the reason why our teams around the league are having sellouts are because Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever are coming to town.” The Lynx’s home saw an increase of a whopping 10,000 attendees in their loss.
Whether the WNBA is “rigid” or not, we have seen how they are trying to milk the benefits as much as they can. Only time will tell how this professional basketball player’s career will follow. But probably nothing will change for the 2024 Team USA as the factor of Caitlin Clark not having much chemistry with these players remains intact.
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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.
Debate
Did Team USA make a huge mistake by leaving Caitlin Clark out? What were they thinking?