WNBA guard Arike Ogunbowale of the Dallas Wings claimed she withdrew from the pool of players for the 2024 Paris Olympics after she saw reports of the initial roster.
Ogunbowale made the confession on the Nightcap podcast Thursday hosted by former NFL players Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson and Shannon Sharpe. When Ogunbowale saw the reports that the team was likely to include A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner, Alyssa Thomas, Napheesa Collier, Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young, Sabrina Ionescu, Chelsea Gray, and Kahleah Copper, she said she suspected that she would not fit in with them.
“When it comes to [the Olympic trials], it really doesn’t have much to do with your game, It’s really about who they feel like fits with the team,” Ogunbowale explained. “So, I actually took my name out the pool months ago. That’s not saying I didn’t think maybe last year I would be on the team, and I was good enough to make the team. But when the list came out, I knew I would not be that one.”
According to Ogunbowale, “politics” rule many decisions surrounding the USA Basketball rosters and All-Star team rosters, which makes the selection process “subjective.” Her skills arguably earn her a spot on the roster, as she is the second leading scorer in the WNBA behind Wilson.
“Everybody’s great in the WNBA, so who they choose is who they choose,” Ogunbowale said. “There’s politics in everything, so I’m gonna just leave it at that.”
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The Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark was also left off Team USA. Clark is in her first professional season but was one of fourteen players invited to the final training camp on Apr. 3-5. As she was still a collegiate player at the time vying for the NCAA championship, she did not attend and expressed “no disappointment” to not be included in this year’s Olympics and instead saw it as “more motivation.”
Team USA has been undefeated in Olympic women’s basketball since 1996. The first game for Team USA in Paris is slated for July 29. Their first opponent will be Japan.