USA Basketball has made unpopular calls before, but this one? This one lit a fire so big that even veteran reporters are stunned. When the organization released its promotional materials for the upcoming December training camp, fans expected to see the most influential athlete in women’s basketball — the player who turned a stagnant sport into must-see national television. Instead, her image was nowhere. Not in the back. Not small. Not cropped out. Just gone.
And the basketball world snapped.
Because Caitlin Clark isn’t just another rising star — she is the gravitational force pulling millions of new fans into women’s sports. She’s the reason WNBA viewership skyrocketed by 400% in one season. She’s the reason arenas that once echoed now shook with sold-out crowds. Her jersey outsold every female athlete in the country — combined. Entire newsrooms built their coverage plans around her rookie season. International outlets sent reporters across oceans for her games.
And yet, USA Basketball chose to promote Jackie Young, Kelsey Plum, and Kahleah Copper instead. Great players, yes — but none of them generated even a fraction of the momentum Clark created this year.
The first person to break the story was Christine Brennan — a journalist who has covered every Olympic Games since 1984. Brennan does not hype things for attention. She is not dramatic. So when even she expressed disbelief live on air, the message was loud and unmistakable:
This wasn’t just a marketing misstep — it was an institutional failure.
She pointed out a fact many fans didn’t know:
The U.S. women’s basketball team saw a major drop in TV viewership at the Paris Olympics. Hardcore fans watched, but the broader public — the people who fuel massive ratings and sponsorships — didn’t show up. Ratings “fell off a cliff,” Brennan said. Even the gold medal game didn’t have significant press coverage. She described the media section as nearly empty — “tumbleweeds,” she called it.
Let that sink in.
The most dominant Olympic basketball program in world history — winners of seven straight gold medals — couldn’t draw journalists.
That’s why leaving Caitlin Clark off a promotional graphic isn’t “just a graphic.”
It’s a decision that directly undermines the sport’s single biggest chance at global expansion in decades.
USA Basketball saw the blueprint all season long:
– They saw arenas sell out months in advance.
– They saw TV execs begging for more Fever games.
– They saw merchandise fly off shelves.
– They saw global outlets send reporters just to cover one player.
And they still refused to place her front and center.
Brennan explained why this matters more than fans realize. She compared the opportunity USA Basketball just abandoned to the global explosion triggered by the 1992 Dream Team. Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird — their Olympic presence grew basketball across entire continents. Kids in Africa, Europe, Asia all started playing because they watched the Dream Team compete.
That team changed the world.
And Caitlin Clark, Brennan argues, had the same potential.
Her global visibility could have revolutionized women’s basketball the same way the Dream Team revolutionized men’s basketball. Imagine:
– USA #22 jerseys selling out internationally
– New women’s leagues forming abroad
– Millions of new fans tuning into the Olympics
– A new generation of girls worldwide falling in love with the game
USA Basketball didn’t just ignore that opportunity. They stepped over it.
And this isn’t new. The organization has undervalued Clark for years. Even at age 17, she was benched on youth national teams while less impactful players started. She already showed elite talent then — elite vision, elite range, elite tempo — and yet the governing body treated her like a supporting player.
Now, the exact same thing is happening on the senior level.
USA Basketball defends their choices by claiming they want to reward veterans, maintain chemistry, and keep the system stable. But here’s the problem:
The system isn’t working.
Women’s basketball is not gaining international traction. Viewership at the Olympics is dropping. Media coverage is shrinking. The global impact is minimal.
Caitlin Clark changed all of that the second she stepped onto a WNBA court.
She didn’t just bring new fans — she brought entire demographics who had never watched women’s sports before. She dragged women’s basketball into mainstream conversation. And her presence directly fueled the WNBA’s explosive growth heading into its landmark new CBA negotiations.
In other words:
She literally helped the entire league get paid more.
That’s not hype.
That’s economics.
So when USA Basketball leaves her off their promotional graphic just months before preparing for the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the message is clear — and troubling.
Because momentum is fragile.
Fans who showed up for Clark will leave just as quickly if she is not included on the biggest stage in American sports. That interest won’t magically return in 2028. The lightning-in-a-bottle of 2024 cannot be recreated.
USA Basketball is playing with fire — and seems unaware the match is already lit.
And the fact that this controversy became an international story before training camp even started? That’s proof enough that the world wants Clark on Team USA. The demand is there. The attention is there. The opportunity is there.
The only question left is whether USA Basketball is capable of seeing it.
Because Clark isn’t the one losing here.
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