Caitlin Clark is being used by 'so-called patriots' as 'avatar to lash out' at black women, claims sports writer on ESPN amid Team USA Olympic row

Amid the debate about whether or not Caitlin Clark was snubbed for the USA Basketball Olympic Team, there's been an undercurrent of negative language toward those who have made the roster.

None of this has been perpetrated by Clark herself, but pundits like Jason Whitlock have blamed her non-inclusion on the 'Black gay mafia' as well as 'angry lesbians'.

It's comments like those which have led Andscape senior writer David Dennis Jr. to make an observation about the direction in which the discourse is going.

Appearing on the ESPN game show Around the Horn, Dennis was asked about his view of the mission statement of Team USA and used his answer to point out his fear that the absence of Clark will be used to attack this roster.

'Yeah, the mission statement [of USA Basketball] is to win gold medals and represent the United States while growing the game,' he said. 'The part about growing the game: you need to win gold medals in order to do that.

'For the history of women's Team USA Basketball, what they do is they put the roster that puts them best equipped to win gold medals. 

'And there have been a lot of players who have been snubbed along the way, Candace Parker being one of those players. And there can be a healthy sports debate about whether Caitlin Clark should make this team. 

'And I'm of the belief that she is not one of the top 15 players available. Even if [Diana] Taurasi, whoever, would not be there, there would be a couple of people like Arike [Ogunbowale] who you could put above Caitlin Clark. 

'The problem here is, and what concerns me going forward, is those people on the fringe that do exist that are in real life - not just Internet trolls; politicians, pundits, and people of the like - who are using Caitlin Clark as an avatar to lash out at the people who they have disdain for: mainly the makeup of the WNBA, Black women et al. 

'And they are using her to go against Team USA. What is going to happen in Team USA, that is going to be the big tragedy here is the way that they are treated by those people come the summer. 

'We're supposed to support America and American teams in the Olympics. I want to see that for this team, even if Caitlin Clark is not on that squad.'

It's not like Clark was left off the roster without merit - many believe that she is simply not good enough right now to make the cut.

Statistics back that up. Of the seven guards that made the roster, all but one is higher on the WNBA scoring list than Clark. The one exception is Chelsea Gray, who is recovering from an injury, but was the league's third-best assister last season.

The one category that Clark does lead the WNBA in right now is turnovers - where, at an average of 5.6 turnovers a game, she is on track to shatter the league's single-season record for the dubious mark.

It should also be noted that rookies rarely make the USA women's basketball team due to how deep the roster typically is. Only Taurasi, Sylvia Fowles, Candace Parker, and Breanna Stewart.

Clark might not even be the biggest snub of this year's Olympic team. That honor would be more aptly given to Dallas Wings star Arike Ogunbowale - who has been one of the WNBA's top scorers and is currently second in the league in points per game with 26.4.

But even with Ogunbowale and Clark off the roster, there should be little to no concern for fans of the United States about their ability to win the gold medal at these Paris games.

The United States women's basketball team has won gold at the last seven Olympic games and has won four straight FIBA World Cup golds as well.

There was even one person willing to advocate for watching a Caitlin Clark-less USA Basketball team: Caitlin Clark herself. 

'I'm excited for the girls who are on the team. I know it's the most competitive team in the world and I know it could've gone either way – me being on the team, me not being on the team,' she said, via The Athletic. 

'So, I'm excited for them. I'm going to be rooting them on to win gold. I was a kid that grew up watching the Olympics. So, yeah, it'll be fun to watch them.'