To many it was not a surprise that Caitlin Clark was not selected to be in the Olympic roster for Team USA Womens Basketball. People can say that it has been a real factor as they have been rolling so far with a spot secured in the next round before they face another team has been balling out, them being Germany.
Even with that said, there has been some criticism on what team officials should have done before the announcement of the players selected was made. ESPN’s First Stake Stephen A. Smith has been very vocal on this matter and has made his words felt.
“How does it feel, Team USA? To have six games, four of them drew over 20,000, and the one that didn’t still drew 2,000 more than you,” said Smith. “That means… that outside of that, the other games drew more than 6,000 fans compared to you. How does it feel?,” he said about the impact that is not having players like Clark on the team.
Stephen A. Smith went on with nothing to hide
The impact that Caitlin Clark would have had on the Olympics would have been huge, even more than what we see during the WNBA games. The ratings and number of viewers would have over the roof and thats the point Stephen A. Smith is trying to make.
“See, we want to play like marketing and business don’t play a role in all of us. Have you ever been to the Olympics? Do you know that they’ll remove you from events if they have a sponsorship from Coca-Cola and you drink Pepsi?,” Stephen A. said.
“I would know. I’ve been to two of them. I covered the Olympics in Sydney, Australia in 2000. I covered it in Athens, Greece, in 2004. I would know. I haven’t been back since, don’t want to go back. I can’t stand the Olympics. I’m not talking about the games,” he went on to say with a very high tone of voice in what many believe is a result of his experience and also things that could have translated to a better form for the Olympic basketball team.
“I’m not talking about the competition; I’m talking about the way the Olympics treat people, particularly the media. I can’t stand it. You have no rights. Everything is so restrictive. Because you’re doing business with everybody, and you’re milking every penny for all its worth, every chance you get.”
