No Olympics For Caitlin Clark

Rumors had been brewing for a while that Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark was going to be left off the USA Women's Basketball Olympic team, and according to a report by David Eickholt of 247Sports, that appears to be the case.

Earlier this year, Clark became the all-time leading scorer in college basketball and is currently making her mark in the WNBA. In her first 14 games, she has averaged 16.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. She has already recorded two 30-point games, including a standout performance during the Fever's 85-83 win over the Washington Mystics, where she hit a career-high seven 3-pointers. This game also made Clark the fastest rookie in WNBA history to achieve over 200 points and 50 assists.

The Las Vegas Aces, the back-to-back WNBA champions, will have four players: A'ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young, and Chelsey Gray.

According to The Athletic, the Team USA roster will look like this.

• A'ja Wilson -- Las Vegas Aces

• Breanna Stewart -- New York Liberty

• Diana Taurasi -- Phoenix Mercury

• Brittney Griner -- Phoenix Mercury

• Alyssa Thomas -- Connecticut Sun

• Napheesa Collier -- Minnesota Lynx

• Jewell Loyd -- Seattle Storm

• Kelsey Plum -- Las Vegas Aces

• Jackie Young -- Las Vegas Aces

• Sabrina Ionescu -- New York Liberty

• Chelsea Gray -- Las Vegas Aces

• Kahleah Copper -- Phoenix Mercury

THE UNDERRATED OPINION
Clark's exclusion from the Olympic team may shock many casual fans of women's basketball, but the USA team is super deep, and Clark would have needed to be more dominant out of the gate in her WNBA career to have made the team this year. Note that Kelsey Plum won gold playing 3x3 in the 2020 Olympics and was not on the roster of the main team.

Certainly, a lot can happen between now and the start of the Olympics, so while she is not on the initial roster, she could be added to the team later if someone suffers a major injury or opts out of playing for Team USA.