Stephen A.’s strong RESPONSE to Team USA’s decision to omit Caitlin Clark 🍿 | First Take

Stephen A.’s strong RESPONSE to Team USA’s decision to omit Caitlin Clark 🍿 | First Take

Kaylin Clark the number one pick in April’s WNBA draft who had an up and down start to her WNBA career did not make the Olympic team Clark just put up 30 points versus the mystics that was their best game yet while the fever’s attendance for games is 16,000 plus this Olympic roster is combined for 15 Olympic gold medals 18 W championships it also includes three MVPs you’ve heard these names bana Stewart Diana terazzi and Asia Wilson Team USA seeking their eighth straight gold medal which would break for the tie for the longest streak in men’s or women’s Olympic basketball also there’s no player under the age of 26 on that roster here’s Caitlyn on not making the team honestly no disappointment like I think it just gives you something something to work for um you know that’s a dream you know hopefully one day I can be there and uh I think it’s just a little more motivation uh you remember that and um you know hopefully in 4 years when four years comes back around you know I can be there we talked actually on the bus um she got the call on the bus and she text me to let me know and you know I just Tred to keep her spirits I mean the thing she said was hey coach they woke a monster which I thought was awesome all right my girl’s joining us chano gum Andrea Carter ladies good morning I want to Dive Right into this one Chan was it a mistake to leave Clark off the Olympic roster hey guys nice to see you all on this beautiful morning um I’ll start with this Molly I grew up in the pipeline of USA Basketball while competing at the u6s u8s world un University games and I also brought back the first ever three on- threee Gold World Championship medal and what I have learned in my time with usab is that team USA’s mission is to construct the best basketball team in the world now as a fan of Caitlyn Clark I would have loved to see her on that stage doing what she has always done making moments that grow the game but Team USA doesn’t select simply based off of fandom especially when the world is catching up it took a buzzer beater from Stewie for them to beat Belgium in the Olympic qualifying tournament earlier this year so to me the primary factor looking at all of this was experience nine of the 12 players as you mentioned Molly have competed in the Olympics before two others were all WNBA and one the last spot if you’re going to try to list them down was Finals MVP and if you dive into her position the point guard position again they chose experience Diana terasi Chelsea Gray Sabrina yonescu and even if you put a combo guard like Kelsey Blum into that category now that has opened them up to criticism because Diana is about to turn 42 even though she’s still averaging 16 points per game Chelsea Gray has yet to play this season in the WNBA and if you had the opportunity to put one of the most popular athletes in the world right now on the roster you know you chose not to do that and to me that decision was largely based off of experienced basketball as players not necessarily what’s best for business because the world is coming and I know Andrea will highlight some other factors like the physicality of overseas especially for guards is 10 times what it is in the WNBA the familiarity of the roster is important eight of the players that made the roster played together at the World Cup in Australia all of those things factored in in the eyes of the committee was it a missed opportunity to grow the game yes but to me it looks like they were more concerned about missing gold so you so if we’re trying to go to Gold because we have a president here this is not this is not like this is to be the first time that we’re adding a WNBA player because you remember in 2004 they put D terasi on this team you remember in 2008 they put Candace Parky on this team and in 2016 they put Stewie on this team now I’m not saying Caitlyn Clark is going to have the career that these but we have a predent here they put the men’s team added Christian lner in 2012 they added Anthony Davis cause Blake Griffin got hurt to highlight some of the things that you said CH is that uh uh uh what you call him hadn’t played all Year Chelsea Gray hasn’t played all all year long so what are we doing are we really try at some point in time we’ve got to stop talking about we’re trying to grow the game because you got no listen is she as accomplished will she ever be as accomplished as a Stewie as a Asia Wilson and I believe those two obviously they’re slam dunk they’re the two best players in the WNBA hands down and it’s not even close but are we really trying to go to grow the game because this is the most popular woman’s basket ball player in the world and it ain’t close they had to move the Mystic game to an NBA arena name the time and I’m GNA turn it over to you because I don’t want to get long-winded I want somebody one of my one of our women colleague Stephen A to tell me when a WNBA game has had to be moved because of a woman player just one just tell me one because I know in her attendance she’s averaging about 177,000 all the other WNBA games in which she’s not a participant average about seven so are we really trying to go the game is that what we’re really trying to do or are we just talking about we’re trying to grow the game and just bull what what is more popular if you wanna if you want to go from a marketing perspective sure Caitlyn is extremely marketable however I just want to pitch this to everyone imagine Caitlyn joining this team and spending time on the bench what is the conversation going to be about the entire time the Olympics is going on why isn’t Caitlyn getting more minutes why isn’t Caitlyn playing I’m sure people will tune in but what will the conversation be then I think it’s really interesting head coach Christy sides for the Indiana Fever said that a monster was woken up in Caitlyn Clark and I think that is wonderful I think motivation for Caitlyn is wonderful I’m going to say this a monster has been woken in all of the women that that were selected for the Olympic team also because the conversation is again centered around Caitlyn Clark if your only argument for Caitlyn is that it would have been a great marketing opportunity and you don’t have basketball experience or chemistry with the group listed in your reasoning I don’t want to hear it when you talk about Diana terasi she has played overseas basketball she is having a phenomenal season putting up big time numbers and two of her teammates two of her current teammates two of her current teammates though are on the team Shannon you know what chemistry means you know what it means to have somebody beside you out there on the playing field that you trust someone that you know Diana terasi knows Kalia copper Diana terasi knows how to get Britney grinder the ball on the inside more than anyone else on the team does like there’s no way as a professional athlete you can sit here and completely discount what team chemistry and player chemistry stands for and what that means none of what Chan and Andrea said was inaccurate and I’m going to say something to you that I have said on many many occasions it’s not that you’re wrong it’s that we don’t care everything y’all said does not matter for this particular instance we don’t want to hear hear anything about Team USA we know they won seven straight goals put put Andrea and Chan up on the screen I want to look at them this whole segment when I’m talking to them you just highlighted seven straight gold medals oh my God we’re really worried that they’re not going to get an eighth oh we really I mean we got to make sure that spots one through 12 what every single s spot that is picked I mean it’s got to be because it’s pivotal Shannon I don’t know if you no the Shannon pivotal I mean they won seven straight they might not get eight they might not get eight stop it you know good and damn well with or without Caitlyn Clark they gonna probably win the gold again that’s not what this conversation is about this is about what I will what I will personally label the idiocy of Team USA Women’s Basketball how dare you make this decision it’s stupid and I’m going to tell you why it’s stupid I want all the ladies on this squad to know every single one of y’all are deserving of it Caitlyn Clark does not deserve a spot ahead of any of the players on this roster okay if we’re talking just basketball you know we’re not you know we’re not let’s haarken back to the Dream Team in 1992 remember when Christian Leon was on that Squad forget the other Pro play forget the pro players forget the pro players that’s a given first time NBA players were allowed to participate don’t put that damn screen up when I’m talking right now I want to see Chan and Andrea okay the point is this those rosters right those players were on there do you know that Christian lner also was chosen ahead of Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Morning you know why he was a two-time national champion he was a wooden Award winner and he was white and he had his own cache he brought it to the table he was a big time Collegiate player who was white and busting people’s you know what they couldn’t miss and they didn’t need him you had Jordan you had magic you had everybody and you still pick that dude why it wasn’t because of basketball even though he had the basketball credentials it was because of something else and they didn’t need the P but the WNBA does you got a Max salary at 250,000 you had attendance although it was trending in the right direction certainly wasn’t where you wanted it to be and as Shannon pointed out just the other day you got a team in the Indiana Fever with their struggling s struggling to win a damn game and be relevant no team in the WNBA was worse other than the winless Washington Mystics okay and they went from 4,000 in attendance to 177,000 this girl is boxing office I said a rising tide lifts all boats what you do especially if you’re Team USA and you’re a and you’re trying to be globalized and there an opportunity to globalize the WNBA brand so people like Britney grinder you know God go God bless her soul and others don’t have to go to Russia in the off seon to play additional basketball to get extra income they could stay right here if the sport elevat it popularity and you ladies start getting what you richly deserve I’ll even get a bit personal to CH G and Andrea Carter I recognize the fact that y’all are outstanding basketball analyst you know how I feel about both of y’all I told you privately I’ve told the world publicly I think y’all are a tag team for the ages I think y’all are spectacular but it’s spectacular as you are about talking the game of basketball is that why you think I call for you to be on first take it ain’t just because of your expertise it’s because your great television your matter you draw an audience this man I I don’t even call Shannon Shannon anymore unless I’m teasing them about the Saturday Night Live skit it’s the truth Shannon that’s the only time I call him Shannon you know what I call him now I call him Shay or sh Shay why because damn it that brand is growing you understand what this man has done to help LIF First Take I ain’t apologizing you make decisions marketing I want people watching I want eyeballs I want advertising dollars why because he’ll get paid y’all will get paid and guess who else will get paid you see where I’m coming from that’s what it’s about stop acting otherwise we know this you don’t sit up there and pass on Caitlyn Clark it was stupid team Team USA it was a dumb decision everybody there’s always somebody that’s a sacrificial lamb I respect the hell out of Rebecca Lobo and what she broke down I understand it it was a stupid decision because it compromises what your ultimate goal is which is to elevate the WNBA brand how can you be that ID I’m not talking about y’all I’m talking about Team USA 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 floor is y’alls if it’s a dumb marketing move Stephen A I hear you marketing but Team USA is not Team USA is not worried about the marketing that is not team USA’s mission right now Team USA is trying to get a gold medal I’m not going to mention his name but I had somebody uh that’s well-renowned in this business in this journalism business you used the word tragic Andrea he used the word tragic to describe what you’re expressing there is an absence in what you’re saying of the big picture you g went on a soliloquy just a minutes ago talking about how you’re not willing to compromise your integrity nobody is talking about individuals compromising their integrity we don’t have to go there I’m not compromising my Integrity Chen isn’t you ain’t Shannon ain’t nobody that’s not what this subject is about this is about history and what history has shown us and our willingness to open our eyes and pay attention to the reality not to Utopia not to what we want something to be but what it actually is you lose me Chen loses me and any human being is going to lose me when we’re literally focusing on the content or the quality of a roster without bringing up the fact that one individual a two-time champion a national champion on the Collegiate level one of the greatest players to ever play in NBA history by the name of Isaiah Thomas was left off the original Dream Team Isaiah Thomas you’ve got to be kidding me it was a travesty what they did to him they put John Stockton on the squad I know he’s a Hall of Famer I know Isaiah introduced him I know they’re buddies but that was highway robbery anybody with two eyes that watch the NBA knows that is one of the biggest crimes in the history of Olympic competition there is no reason why Isaiah Thomas should not have been on that off off of that team outside of certain players not wanting him on there my point is this it was still done why because as Shannon highlighted the ultimate appeasement was aimed in the direction of another brother by the name of Michael Jordan it’s how it goes then we go on to acknowledge there are many others who didn’t do enough of a job of promoting the WNBA you know why we didn’t do a better job of promoting the WNBA because the numbers the eyeballs the interest the sizzle the headlines were not there no one cared the public didn’t care and so now you have somebody and so now you have somebody that has the world caring and you say to her well you know what we want to make purely basketball decisions it’s the right thing to do and we got to be worried about how other people are going to feel but you still complaining about the max salary being 250,000 you’re still complaining about the absence of eyeballs you’re still complaining about the lack of headlines and notoriety and pub and cachet you’re complaining about all of these things and the one person who has proven that they can alleviate that concern that could ultimately serve to benefit the better hole now we want to sit up there and get all altruistic and stuff and talking about hey it’s about the sanctity of the game and the level of competition you going to win by 30 without her just like you’d win by 30 with her it don’t make a difference you make the call because of the betterment of the whole in the end that is not compromising your integrity that is business and y’all are going to find find that out [Music]

On First Take, Stephen A. Smith, Shannon Sharpe, Chiney Ogwumike and Andraya Carter join Molly Qerim to talk through Team USA’s decision to omit Caitlin Clark from the National Team roster, the implications and fallout from the decision and more.

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