Overview

• Christine Brennan’s book discloses that USA Basketball preassigned a roster spot to Diana Taurasi as her Olympic farewell gift, cutting available slots to 11.
• The guaranteed Taurasi position meant Caitlin Clark had effectively no path onto the 12-player Paris roster.
• Team USA committee members worried that Clark’s large fan base would react negatively if she logged limited minutes in Olympic games.
• Selection committee chair Jen Rizzotti insists that final decisions adhered to predefined basketball evaluation criteria.
• Clark declined an offer to join the USA 3×3 national team and the U.S. women’s basketball squad still went on to win gold in Paris.