Caitlin Clark Named 'Guaranteed Replacement' for WNBA Legend on Next Olympic Roster

Caitlin Clark was not able to earn a spot on the Team USA roster for the Paris Olympics despite her record-setting rookie WNBA season, but that likely won't be the case for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

In an early projection of the U.S. women's basketball roster for the next Summer Games, Jack Maloney of CBS Sports predicted that Clark would take the place of WNBA legend Diana Taurasi as she is expected to head to retirement.

Maloney noted that Clark's omission from this year's team drew some controversy, but there likely won't be much debate about her place in the next four years. He wrote that Clark is all but assured to take the place of the 42-year-old Taurasi on the next Olympic roster.

"Clark nearly became the fifth WNBA rookie to make a Team USA Olympic roster this summer, but was ultimately a controversial cut," he wrote. "There will be no such dramatics ahead of the 2028 games; Clark, arguably already the best playmaker in the world, will be one of the first names on the team sheet. For the sake of this exercise, we can consider her a direct replacement for Taurasi."

Clark already had a resume that rivaled almost any other player on the Paris Olympics roster. Through the first 26 games of her first WNBA season, Clark is averaging 17.1 points per game along with 5.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists. She earned a place on the WNBA All-Star team, which went on to beat the Team USA.

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