Shaquille O'Neal's ex-agent uses Duke legend's example to explain Team USA's 'mistake' of leaving Caitlin Clark off the team
Caitlin Clark's absence from Team USA's 2024 Paris Olympics roster has garnered massive reactions from the sports world and beyond. As fans, including Texas Senator Ted Cruz, questioned the selection committee of the national squad, others even raised the possibility of Clark playing for Italy in the City of Light.
The snub allowed WNBA star Arike Ogunbowale to hint at the active politics and subjectivity in the sporting world, while tennis legend Serena Williams chimed in with words of motivation for the Indiana Fever rookie.
With that, Leonard Armato, the brains behind the "Shaq" brand and turning Skechers into the No. 2 athletic footwear company, defended Caitlin Clark while briefly citing the 1992 instance when his former client, NBA icon Shaquille O'Neal, was snubbed from the Dream Team.
"I remember going all the way back to Christian Laettner. He came out of Duke, and they put him on the Olympic team instead of Shaquille O’Neal," Armato said. "So there’s been precedent for that. I think they made a mistake not to put her on. Quite frankly, because it would definitely juice up television ratings for them for sure.
"It would definitely increase interest in Team USA for sure. The question of whether she is better right now than some of these WNBA vets: Okay. Maybe they are better still because she hasn’t quite acclimated to the WNBA game. But there’s no reason to leave her off the team because it is always going to help the team."
According to the women's USA roster selection panel and its chair, Jen Rizzotti, Caitlin Clark's snub comes from a lack of overall WNBA experience. Clark was up for consideration, but the selection came through a three-year-long process that began when Clark was still in college. Moreover, the panel did not acknowledge marketability and viewership as a deciding factor.
Caitlin Clark, on the other hand, brushed off the snub and sees it as nothing short of a challenge. It unintentionally helped her to focus on her WNBA career as she dropped a career-high 30 points in a game right after Team USA's final roster was announced.
Kevin Durant validates Team USA's move to leave out Caitlin Clark
Two-time NBA champion and a veteran gold medalist for Team USA, Kevin Durant, believes that Caitlin Clark’s snub speaks more about the selected players than the former Iowa Hawkeye phenom. In a recent interview, Durant claimed that the selection committee had better options this time around than Clark.
"I still think there's proper steps you have to take in our world to be considered an Olympian," Durant said. "I think she's definitely going to be on one of these teams going forward, but for right now there's better candidates out there, I think."
According to Durant, Caitlin Clark checks all the boxes to be a Team USA player. Moreover, he applauded the impact Clark has had on increasing the league's global demand. However, Durant claimed that to ensure a national team selection, Clark simply needs to keep showing up and putting her best foot forward.