Republican Senator Ted Cruz from Texas vocally criticized the USA Basketball selection committee via social media on Wednesday.
His remarks followed a milestone in WNBA viewership, as the league celebrated its most-watched game in over two decades.
The game in question featured the Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky, with former college adversaries Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark going head-to-head in a captivating matchup.
Caitlin Clark, a standout performer, led her team with 23 points and nine assists, while Angel Reese contributed 11 points, 13 rebounds, and five assists. The clash culminated in a 91-83 victory for the Fever, capturing the attention of an average of 2.25 million viewers on CBS, with peaks nearing 3 million. This game not only set a viewership record for the WNBA but also highlighted the significant draw of newcomer Caitlin Clark, around whom much of this season’s WNBA narrative has revolved.
Senator Cruz, recognizing Clark’s substantial influence on the league’s popularity and success, took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his displeasure with her omission from the 2024 U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team. He disparaged the decision with strong words, posting, “And yet these imbeciles don’t want her on the Olympic team.”
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Earlier this month, Clark was notably absent from the roster announcement for the Olympic team.
The chair of the USA Basketball selection committee, Jen Rizzotti, explained to the Associated Press that the decision was primarily based on Clark’s relative inexperience at the international level.
Rizzotti emphasized that the committee’s responsibility was to assemble the best possible team under head coach Cheryl Reeve, without consideration for potential television ratings or popular support.
“It would be irresponsible for us to talk about her in a way other than how she would impact the play of the team,” Rizzotti stated. “Because it wasn’t the purview of our committee to decide how many people would watch or how many people would root for the U.S. It was our purview to create the best team we could for Cheryl [Reeve].”
The controversy highlights the tension between national team selection processes, which often prioritize experience and specific team needs, and the public’s and certain influencers’ desires to see exciting new talents on the global stage, especially when they have proven to be a significant draw in domestic competitions.
