Caitlin Clark (L), and Stephen A. Smith (R). Credits: USA TODAY Sports
The USA women’s basketball team faced an unexpected challenge by France in the gold medal encounter. Despite the battle being more competitive than they could’ve imagined, A’ja Wilson and Co. handled business and brought home the gold medal once again.
Despite Team USA’s 8th straight gold medal win at the Olympic Games, Stephen A. Smith pointed out his concerns about the exclusion of Caitlin Clark from the squad.
Days after the conclusion of the Paris Games, Smith took to his YouTube channel and expressed his dissatisfaction with the team’s lack of efforts in marketing women’s basketball. The ESPN analyst condemned the selection committee by mentioning how the presence of Clark could’ve helped promote the WNBA.
“I was just of the mindset that Caitlin Clark need to be on this team… I think Team USA missed an opportunity to elevate the profile of women’s excellence in the sport of basketball because they ignored marketing,” Smith said.
A couple of weeks ago, the 56-year-old had spoken about the same topic on his talk show. He revealed the difference in the footfall that the USA’s games received as compared to the other women’s group stage games.
After reiterating the same, Smith didn’t even demand for Clark to get abundant playing time. He compared her potential role on the squad to the role that Tyrese Haliburton had in Steve Kerr’s rotation.
“If Team USA men’s can have Tyrese Haliburton on their squad, Team USA Women could have had Caitlin Clark on their squad,” Smith concluded.
Stephen A. Smith does make a great point. Over the past year, Clark has been extremely vital for women’s basketball–college level and the WNBA–gaining popularity. Team USA could’ve helped the WNBA gain more viewership if Clark was playing in Paris with the whole world watching.
Instead, she used her time off to take a much-needed holiday and recoup for the second half of the campaign.
