Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark revealed her true feelings about being left off the United States Olympic basketball team during last summer’s Paris Games.
Clark, who was named TIME Magazine’s “Athlete of the Year,” did a wide-ranging interview that covered a wide range of topics – including her non-selection.
While Team USA was winning gold medals in the City of Light, Clark was back home watching things unfold from a distance.
But as she told the outlet, she didn’t want the story about her snub to distract from the team — nor did she want to be included just because of the eyeballs that would tune into the sport.
“I don’t want to be there because I’m someone who can attract attention,” she told the magazine in an interview released Tuesday. “I think that’s great for women’s basketball.
‘But at the same time I want to be there, because they think I’m good enough. I don’t want to be one of those little people who gets dragged along so people can cheer and just watch because I’m sitting on the bench.”
Caitlin Clark opened up about her criticism of Team USA ahead of this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris
Clark was named TIME Magazine’s 2024 ‘Athlete of the Year’ on Tuesday morning
Like it or not, Clark’s absence was still a major storyline that followed Team USA throughout the tournament.
Discussions were often toxic, similar to the same discourse that surrounded her during her rookie WNBA season.
Of course, this isn’t Clark’s fault as her popularity continued to grow and brought attention to the sport throughout the year.
Clark also revealed her reasons for forgoing the Unrivaled 3-v-3 basketball league this offseason, saying, “It’ll be good for me to do my own thing and have my own space.” I really just want to stay out of the spotlight.’
Instead of bringing Clark, Team USA brought guards Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum, Sabrina Ionescu, Chelsea Gray, Diana Taurasi and Jackie Young – all of whom played a role in bringing the gold back to the US.