Caitlin Clark was not named to the U.S. Women’s Basketball Team for the 2024 Olympics, which many (including the decision-makers) can easily write off as Clark being a strong option in a pool full of them.
But to Kevin Sheehan, what Clark has done so far as a rookie in the WNBA can’t be ignored.
“She had 30 points, seven threes which was a rookie record in the WNBA, and eight rebounds, six assists and four steals in a win over the Mystics in a jam-packed 20,000-seat Capital One Arena,” Sheehan said. “And just so everybody understands, because I know there's been some conversation about Caitlin Clark isn't quite there, she’s 14th in the league in scoring, fourth in assists, and tied for fourth in three-pointers made – and her 200 points and are the most through a rookie's first 12 games in WNBA history. Sure, she has struggled at times with bigger, longer, more athletic players than she faced in college, but her rookie season so far based on some numbers and at worst, she's having a really nice start to her rookie year. She belongs in this league for sure, and I would say the best is yet to come.”
And, even if she’s not one of the best 12, Clark should be in Paris.
“She's not one of the best 12 players in the league, or in the USA, and that's how many players are allowed to be on the Olympic team. On merit, she probably doesn't deserve a spot on the team,” Kevin said. “But in my opinion, deserving doesn't have anything to do with it – it’s business.”
And that’s because business is, right now, booming for a business that hasn’t always seen that.
“The difference with the WNBA and any other conversation we're gonna have about any other merit-based business is that the other leagues that we're talking about are very much established, self-sustaining, et cetera.
She's the biggest draw in sports right now, and the biggest draw in women's basketball maybe ever,” Sheehan said. “Women's basketball, and this Olympic team, is a marketing platform for the business of the WNBA, which has been a fledgling business for its existence, kept solvent for the most part by the NBA. This is a moment; Caitlin Clark is lightning in a bottle that businesses which aren't doing exceptionally well dream of. If we could just have this one happen, our product is ready to roll. She's lightning in a bottle, they have it right in front of them, and they're treating this like it's a merit-based operation.”
Kevin, of course, respects that…but still, this might be one time for an exemption.
“If you're being big picture oriented, they need somebody that says, ‘wait a minute, let's grow up here, this is the difference between everybody watching versus hardly anybody watching,’” Kevin said. “I guarantee you NBC wants her on the team, and all the networks that are gonna be televising games, and if she’s on the team, how much is she really going to play? The team is 70-3 in their last 73 international games and a massive favorite to win gold, and there are going to be a couple of games she’s get into. Last Olympics, they had a couple close games, not every game was a blowout, but there’s a spot in these games for a straight-up three-point shooter.”
Now, if Clark just wants a break because Iowa went all the way to the NCAA Finals and the WNBA season so far has been compressed because of the Olympics, great, but…
“If I were running this thing, I’d pay her to do it if I had to,” Kevin said. “They, to me, are being incredibly penny wise, pound foolish in not putting her on this team. This is not Christian Laettner on the Dream Team in ’92, when they required one college player to be on the team and he wasn’t a needle-mover. You can’t think of this in terms of she doesn't deserve it, or who are you going to take off the team, or what if she's not gonna play that much? That's missing the opportunity to continue to capitalize on this lightning in a bottle shot in the arm. Other sports have exemptions all the time where players with name recognition participate, because they're running a business too, and this is a business that needs to continue to capitalize on this moment.”
Listen to Kevin’s entire soliloquy above!