Caitlin Clark is not fazed by the growing buzz from her Team USA Olympic snub.

Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark is having a strong start to her WNBA career, and she is helping her team ascend alongside her. The Fever have won four games going into the late part of June. Moreover, despite Clark’s basketball resume, she was left off the 2024 Team USA Olympic roster. Clark gave a blunt response when asked about potentially playing for Italy instead.

“I have Italian heritage, but I don’t know about all that,” Clark said with a smile.

Fans were shocked to hear that Clark would not participate in the 2024 Olympics with Team USA due to the star guard’s draw. Clark has helped bring more eyes to women’s basketball, which primarily started when she was in college.

Clark broke too many records to count during her four years at Iowa. Most notably, she eclipsed Kelsey Plum and Pete Maravich’s records to become the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer. In addition, she passed Diana Taurasi for the most the-pointers in the NCAA Tournament after she went 9 for 20 against LSU in the Elite 8.

The star guard put her offensive prowess on full display the entire season. Clark averaged 31.6 points, 8.9 assists, and 7.4 rebounds per game during the 2023-24 season. Her exceptional deep-range shooting ability has compared her to greats like Sabrina Ionescu and Stephen Curry, and so far she is building a strong foundation in the WNBA.

Through 16 games, Clark averages 16.3 points, 6.2 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. She and the Fever had a cold start to the season, but they have rallied to an eighth-place league standing. Nevertheless, Team USA decided to select more experienced players over Clark for the Paris 2024 team.

Reaction to Fever guard Caitlin Clark’s absence from the Olympics

Given her heritage, fans and analysts speculated that Clark could play for Italy during the Summer games. Yet, she appears to have shot the idea down. Clark will likely focus on recovery during the Olympic break while some other WNBA stars play in Paris.

Sports commentator Colin Cowherd called the move to omit Clark from the Summer team a “wasted opportunity.” Furthermore, he used the example of Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards making the men’s team to prove his point.

“WNBA now is flying chartered flights. She would triple the TV ratings. Again, life doesn’t give you, sports doesn’t give you, business doesn’t give you a lot of these kind of waves, grab the surfboard. She’s here for you. By the way, the NBA would die to have a domestic star nearly as popular as Caitlin Clark. Oh wait, they do. Anthony Edwards. They put him on the team,” Cowherd said via The Herd.

“Anthony Edwards today is not as good as Jaylen Brown. I think he could be by the end of next year, and I think after the trade deadline, I’ve said this, he and Wemby could be surging as faces of the league, but Edwards isn’t as good as Jaylen Brown now. Ant is unrefined. He’s up and down. He’s hot and cold. Jaylen Brown’s great every night. They found a spot for [Edwards] on the team,” Cowherd continued.

Clark may not be playing in the Olympics in 2024, but in time, there is no doubt she can represent Team USA in future competitions.