Stephen A. Smith slams USA Women’s Basketball for Caitlin Clark snub: ‘How could you be that idiotic’

First Take host Stephen A. Smith slammed Team USA women’s basketball this week for leaving Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark off the Summer Olympics roster for Paris 2024. Despite, Clark’s rookie status, Smith argued that Team USA has to promote women’s basketball to the best of its abilities, which, at the moment, would mean including the first-year pro on the team whether she’s earned a spot or not.

“This is about what I will personally label ‘The Idiocy of Team USA Women’s Basketball.’ How dare you make this decision,” Smith said. “It’s stupid. I want all the ladies on this squad to know every single one of y’all deserve it. Caitlin Clark does not deserve a spot ahead of any of the players on this roster — if we’re talking just basketball. You know we’re not.”

“It was a stupid decision,” he added. “Because it compromises what your ultimate goal is, which is to elevate the WNBA brand. How could you be that idiotic and not make that call, when throughout history, Team USA has been, in part, about marketing? It’s dumb, period.”

Smith’s argument holds water if you believe that Team USA’s ultimate goal is to elevate the WNBA brand. However, historically, that is not the team’s purpose. The team’s ultimate goal is to win gold, which they have, consistently, for the last seven Olympic games.

Clark left off Team USA roster in favor of veteran players

On Get Up, host Mike Greenberg brought in former Olympic gold medalist Rebecca Lobo to add context to Team USA’s decision.

“When it comes to forming the women’s Olympic team, it’s a three-year process. They started having training camps back in February of 2022. They had a training camp in April of 2022, then the World Cup in the Fall of 2022. Multiple training camps throughout the course of 2023 and then this year in February, they went overseas for exhibitions, and another training camp this February. So, all of the women who ended up reportedly being on this roster participated in many of those.”

“Because of the timing of the WNBA season, the WNBA takes a break during the summer season for the Olympics. The team has seven practices before the Olympics. All of these women have played with one another. They’ve learned the system, they’ve learned one another and some of the opponents they’re going to face in the international games.”

Due to Caitlin Clark’s participation in the Women’s Final Four with the Iowa Hawkeyes, she has yet to participate in a Team USA training camp. That fact alone made it extremely unlikely that she would receive a spot on the roster.