As Team USA narrowly squeezed by France 68-67 in Sunday's Olympic basketball final , many wondered: would Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark have made a difference?
The Americans survived as Gabby Williams had her foot on the line as she banked in a desperation heave as the clock expired. Had the shot went in, Team USA's 60-game winning streak would have been forced to survive overtime in the gold medal game.
Team USA played out a stale first half devoid of shot creation, entering halftime tied at 25 against a greatly overmatched French side. Two-time reigning WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson stepped up in the second half and finished as the game's top scorer with 21 points to help the Americans clinch gold.
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There were some suspect performances from the Americans throughout the tournament, namely from 42-year-old Diana Taurasi . The all-time legend went from starting early in the Olympics to not even featuring in the final.
Clark has been a revelation in the WNBA as a rookie this season. She's averaging 17.1 points, a league-leading 8.2 assists, and 1.5 steals per game and has the Indiana Fever in playoff contention.
She was very humble when asked to reflect about not making the Olympic team : "I know it’s the most competitive team in the world, and I know it could have gone either way of me being on the team or me not being on the team. I’m excited for them. Going to be rooting them on to win gold. I was a kid that grew up watching the Olympics. It’ll be fun to watch them."
"It’s a dream. Hopefully one day I can be there. I think it’s just a little more motivation Hopefully when four years comes back around [at the LA Olympics in 2028], I can be there. I’m excited for the girls that are on the team [now]."
Team US announced the Olympic roster on June 11th, only a month into the 2024 WNBA season . Though she had some flashes, Clark was struggling from the field at the time of the selection.
Dawn Staley, the coach of the South Carolina women's basketball team and a member of the selection committee, acknowledged the timing of the process as a detriment to Clark.
“If we had to do it all over again, with the way she’s playing, she would be in really high consideration of making the team because she’s playing head and shoulders above a lot of people," Staley said .
"She’s shooting the ball extremely well. She’s an elite passer. She’s just got a great basketball IQ. And she’s a little more seasoned in the pro game than she was two months ago.”
This weekend, Clark donned a Yankees jersey and appeared in the Bronx for the first game of the team's Saturday doubleheader against the Texas Rangers. "He's huge," Clark said of New York slugger Aaron Judge. "He's pretty swole too. Not just tall, he's pretty swole."
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