Maybe Cheryl Reeve has an issue with Caitlin Clark, or maybe Caitlin Clark has a problem with Cheryl Reeve. Either way, before the Olympics, Team USA’s head basketball coach needs to adopt a new mindset.
When she takes the stage on a global scale later this month, the manner in which she answered a question concerning the outstanding rookie of the Indiana Fever over the weekend will not be acceptable.
It all started to get weird in the preseason. Reeve voiced her displeasure with the amount of publicity surrounding Clark. Even if the largest single attraction in league history is the greatest scorer in college basketball history, she wants everyone to remember that the WNBA is “more than one team.”
About a month later, it was announced that Clark had not been selected for the Olympic team.
Despite the logic behind the roster decision, there was a great deal of dissatisfaction. During training camp, Clark was absent from the team. Her first professional season didn’t start off well in the first few weeks. Rarely do rookies make the squad. And so it goes.
The Reeve element comes next. To claim that there was no bias there would be naive.
This is when changing one’s attitude becomes important.
Reeve leads the Minnesota Lynx as their head coach as well. On Sunday, Clark totally humbled her as the Fever won by seven points. The 57-year-old had to concede the rookie’s brilliance after criticising her fan base in the pregame.
Cheryl Reeve ought to reconsider how she feels about Caitlin Clark!
The head coach of Team USA delivered the encouraging remarks after stifling all discussion of the Olympic team snub before tipoff. That was a reasonable question, and the answer was absurd.
If Reeve’s PR team instructed her to tone down her vibrato during the news conference following the game, I wouldn’t be shocked. It did not seem good how she answered the question about the national team. Maybe after the loss, she was instructed to get off the high horse.
Regardless of the outcome, Reeve must reconsider how she responds to inquiries about Clark before leaving for France the following week.
The 22-year-old’s global superstardom is quite extensive. The world saw her play basketball at Iowa, and the same is true for her professional career.
Reporters from various nations will question Reeve about Caitlin Clark in Paris. To be fair, even though the Sunday’s question hinted at the forthcoming match, it will be more acceptable to discuss the Olympics in person. She can’t approach those talks the same way she did during the weekend, so she has to be good with that. That is not going to work.
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