Draymond Green believes Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese should have been on Team USA for branding/marketing and basketball reasons. [photo: @draymondshow, @chicagosky] — Draymond Green believes Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese should have been on Team USA for branding/marketing and basketball reasons. [Photos: Instagram/ @draymondshow, @chicagosky]

Draymond Green believes Caitlin Clark & Angel Reese could replicate '92 Dream Team effect on Team USA

Modified Aug 10, 2024 05:48 GMT

Even without Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese in the Olympics, the USA’s women’s basketball team is doing just fine. After an 85-64 win over Australia, the Americans are once again in the championship game. They will take on host France in the gold medal game on Saturday.

Despite the Americans’ superb Olympic campaign, many are convinced USA Basketball missed a golden opportunity to showcase the WNBA on the biggest international sports stage. Draymond Green, in his podcast, had this to say about why Clark and Reese should have been selected.

“I think Caitlin Clark should have been on the USA team. It’s great for the brand. We talk brand any other time [so] let’s not act like it don’t matter now. 100% it matters.

"If you think about what the 1992 Barcelona team, “Dream Team” did for the brand of basketball. The W [WNBA] is still in those phases of the NBA. … It must be about spreading this globally and she’s the biggest global star in women’s basketball.”

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Before the 1992 “Dream Team,” USA Basketball brought the top collegiate players to compete against the best in the world. Once the rules were changed, allowing pro athletes to compete, the NBA promptly jumped at that opportunity to show what the league is all about.

The move made sense for so many reasons. Team USA romped to the gold medal behind the exploits of legendary basketball players such as Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley and others. The NBA’s popularity skyrocketed and it has never looked back.

For Draymond Green, she considers Caitlin Clark to be the biggest crowd drawer in the WNBA. Taking her to the Olympics along with Angel Reese would have had the same effect in 1992 when the “Dream Team” campaigned in the Olympics.

Draymond Green claims Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese should have been on Team USA not only for branding or marketing reasons

USA Basketball constructed an enviable roster that no country can match. They are doing well and are one game away from a gold medal. Still, Draymond Green thought Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese should have been selected.

Here’s what Green had to say about why Team USA could have picked Clark and Reese for purely basketball reasons:

“What they showed you in this half-a-season is that I’m going to be one of them ones. … Angel Reese is leading the league in double-doubles and broke the all-time [double-double] record. Caitlin Clark is leading the league in assists on a historical pace.”

Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark struggled in the first few weeks in the WNBA. Once they adjusted to the style of play in pro basketball, they quickly showed why they could be the faces of the league soon.

Los Angeles will host the Olympics after Paris. Draymond Green expects the WNBA to do what it should have done this year. It will be four years later but the impact might still be just as big.