The digital playground of social media is ablaze, and guess who’s fanning the flames? None other than the fervent followers of Caitlin Clark and Arike Ogunbowale, who are still smarting from their favorites’ snub by the Team USA Olympic selectors.
In a twist no one saw coming, Diana Taurasi put on what can only be described as an invisibility cloak during Team USA’s win over Belgium at the Paris Olympics on Thursday. Yes, you read that right—the legendary Taurasi, the Phoenix Mercury’s living legend, went scoreless. Zero points. Nada. Zilch. In her most uneventful Olympic performance ever, Taurasi missed all three of her shots, committed a turnover, and racked up two fouls in just 14 minutes of play. This was not the sparkly, golden performance we’ve come to expect from someone hunting for their sixth Olympic gold.
Naturally, Clark and Ogunbowale’s loyal fanbase wasted no time pointing out the elephant in the room. “Arike and Caitlin Clark should be on this team. Diana Taurasi shouldn’t be on this team,” one fan vented on X, formerly known as Twitter, where the drama unfolds in real time.
Ogunbowale, fresh off her 34-point MVP explosion at the Phoenix All-Star Game, might have had her reasons for stepping back from Team USA selections—reasons she shared on Chad Ochocinco and Shannon Sharpe’s Nightcap show in June. “I could tell that wasn’t the type of vibe they want,” she said, essentially handing in her Team USA rejection letter months in advance.
Meanwhile, Clark, the Iowa sensation and Indiana Fever’s newfound hope, has been nothing but gracious about her omission. She even looked forward to helping Team USA prep for Paris, showing up as a cheerleader rather than a player. However, the narrative twisted when fans misinterpreted Taurasi’s well-meaning advice to Clark during the Women’s Final Four as some sort of rivalry.
In the middle of this soap opera, Hall of Famer and Team USA selection committee member Dawn Staley chimed in with some food for thought. In an NBC Olympics interview, she admitted Clark’s early WNBA struggles had influenced their decision. Leading the league in turnovers while being the top scorer at 17.1 points per game and the first rookie to record a triple-double? Sure, those stats sound like rookie jitters to me.
“As a committee member, you’re charged with putting together the best team of players, the best talent,” Staley said. “Caitlin is just a rookie in the WNBA, wasn’t playing bad, but wasn’t playing like she’s playing now. If we had to do it all over again, the way that she’s playing, she would be in really high consideration of making the team because she is playing head and shoulders above a lot of people.”
In a world where the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer should be untouchable, Taurasi’s critics had no mercy post-USA-Belgium game. Apparently, six Olympic runs and a lifetime of accolades don’t shield you from the wrath of disappointed fans.
So, here we are, witnessing the soap opera of sports unfold with all its twists, turns, and Twitter tirades. As Team USA marches on, one thing’s for sure—the selection saga will be a hot topic, with Taurasi’s scoreless game adding a spicy subplot to the Olympic drama.