How Caitlin Clark Could Join The 2024 Olympic Team After All

Caitlin Clark's Olympics snub took a major turn, and there is evidence she could join the team after all. Originally, there was a cavalcade of backlash when it was announced Clark would not be going to the Olympics to play for Team USA women's basketball. "Leaving Caitlin Clark off the women's Olympic team is the dumbest s*** I've ever heard," Dave Portnoy wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on June 8 alongside a fiery video message. All that blustering outrage could prove to be for naught, as a key member of the Olympic team could be stepping aside to make way for Clark.

Diana Taurasi was one of the players named to Team USA, but as pointed out by the New York Post, the Phoenix Mercury guard had been dealing with a leg injury. On July 12, Taurasi would miss her team's game against Clark's Indiana Fever, which would mean she missed four out of five games. With Taurasi's health status in limbo, Clark was primed to take her spot as an alternate. "Caitlin Clark and Brionna Jones ... are top of the alternates list for Team USA if there is needed to be a replacement," Shams Charania previously reported on June 10.

Not only was Clark named an alternate to Team USA, but she was set to face off against the team that many believed snubbed her. The Olympic team had an exhibition game set up against members of the WNBA All-Star team, which Clark was named to. Previously, Clark opened up about her feelings on not making the Olympics.

One reason that Caitlin Clark was an appealing alternate for the women's basketball team at the Olympics was how she handled being excluded from the roster. People wondered how Clark would react after being left off, but the highly-touted rookie took the news in stride. "I know it's the most competitive team in the world and I know it could've gone either way of me being on the team," she told reporters on June 9, per NBC News. In fact, Clark was not shocked to not make the team. "Honestly, no disappointment," she told the press about not being named an Olympian. The Indiana Fever star was not only fine with not making Team USA, but showed support for the women who were going to the Olympics. "I'm gonna be rooting them on to win gold," Clark added.

Not everyone shared Clark's sentiments. In fact, the president of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, Casey Wasserman, blasted the decision to exclude Clark. "I think it's a missed opportunity because she's clearly a generational talent," he said on June 22 (via USA Today). Meanwhile, the team's selection committee chair, Jen Rizzotti, said marketing was not factored into developing the roster. "It would be irresponsible for us to talk about [Clark] in a way other than how she would impact the play of the team," Rizzotti said on June 11, per the Associated Press.

All that discussion would be moot if Clark replaced Diana Taurasi, who had a budding rivalry with the rookie. 

It would be somewhat ironic if Diana Taurasi was replaced by Caitlin Clark on the Olympics team, as she was the pro who said the rookie would be humbled coming into the WNBA. When Clark was still a member of the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, Taurasi was asked her thoughts about the NCAA star and the talented class of 2024 WNBA rookies joining the league. "Reality is coming," she said speaking to ESPN's Scott Van Pelt in April. "There's levels to this thing. And that's just life, we all went through it," Taurasi added.

The jab made headlines, and was not forgotten by Clark's Indiana Fever. On June 30, Clark's squad beat Taurasi's Phoenix Mercury, and the Fever showed they could hold a petty grudge by trolling the vet. "Reality check. #FeverWin," the team tweeted after the victory.

While Taurasi had not exactly given Clark a warm welcome into the pros, she had encouraging words for the rookie while speaking about her own experience on Team USA. "I had to learn the ropes too," Taurasi told the press on June 10, while speaking about her first time playing on the Olympic team in 2004, per USA Today. The Mercury guard mentioned how young players, such as Clark, would eventually find success at the pro level. "And once you learn the steps and the rhythm and you have a skill set that is superior to everyone else, everything else will fall into place," Taurasi added.