Former WNBA star Lindsay Whalen recently discussed the current state of the Team USA Olympics women’s basketball roster. She shared her opinion on the snub of Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese and justified the team’s decision to keep them off the roster.

Whalen explained that making the roster involves training camps, practices, Zoom calls, and years of preparation before the Olympics. She also thinks the timing of Clark and Reese’s arrival in the WNBA hurt their Olympic status since Team USA was already making roster decisions while the two young stars were in college.

“This is a four-year process to make this team. There’s training camps, and there’s practices, and there’s, I’m sure, Zoom calls, and there’s so much that goes into it… I understand; obviously, we have some incredible young players and rookies that have infused so much into the league. But when you’re talking about an Olympic team, to me, it’s a lot of timing [and] unavailability. Not by anyone’s fault. Caitlin [Clark], Angel [Reese], they were in college trying to win national championships, and this group over here is practicing and training to win a gold medal.”

Clark and Reese are having extremely successful seasons in their first year in the WNBA and are battling for the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year award. The Fever guard has averaged 17.1 points and 8.2 assists per game, while Chicago’s young star has posted 13.5 points and 11.9 rebounds per game.

The two rookies recently played together in the 2024 WNBA All-Star game. As far as them joining the Olympic team, however, Whalen believes the timing of their situation didn’t suit Team USA’s schedule.

Whalen is a former four-time WNBA champion and five-time WNBA All-Star. She has her jersey No. 13 retired with the Minnesota Lynx, so the 42-year-old is equipped to talk about women’s basketball.