Rebecca Lobo explains why Caitlin Clark didn’t make Olympic team

Another weekend where the talk surrounding the WNBA is about Caitlin Clark. This time the controversy is whether or not she should have been left off the Olympic team.

While there have been plenty of opinions about the subject, one thing that hasn’t been asked is why. Why was she left off the team?

One person who seems to know why is former UConn, WNBA, and former Olympian star Rebecca Lobo. When Lobo appeared Monday morning on “Get Up”, she explained why Clark might have been left off the team.

Lobo says it’s because these women have participated in training camps together over the past year and understand the system. Also, a lot of these women are past Olympians something Clark isn’t.

“You have to look at the context to how this team was created”, she said. “All of these women have played with one another. Caitlin Clark was not able to participate (in training camps}. She did not have that chance,” said Lobo.

She also thinks these young ladies are being rewarded for making the sacrifices it takes to make the team.

Another bone of contention seems to be with Diana Taurasi, who is 41 years old, making the team over Clark but according to Lobo and the people she has talked to, Taurasi, who has won gold medals in the past, looked great throughout training camp.

Lobo said even if the team were to add Clark, who would you take off?

“At the expense of who,” she asked. “It’s a three-year process, they had multiple training camps, all the women in the pool participated in many of those. Who are you taking off that roster to put Caitlin Clark on?

That’s a good question that no one who is complaining about Clark not making it has asked. There have been plenty of complaints from fans and once again the media as to why Clark didn’t make the roster, but most have no idea unlike Lobo what went into the decision.

The factors are simple: she wasn’t able to participate in the training camps with the other ladies, therefore, she didn’t learn the system or how the international game is played and she doesn’t have the experience. None of the women who made the team are under the age of 26 which means all of them are professionals who have played in the WNBA and have played internationally before.

When the training camps were going on, Clark was still in college and unable to participate. But the media and Clark fans have made this into a bigger deal than it should be per usual rather than looking into the reasons why. Some blame race although four white women, including Taurasi, made the team.

Some think Clark should have made the team based on merit, rather than experience but would that be fair to the women who went out there and earned their positions?

{Get Up}