It may be time to add Caitlin Clark to the Olympic roster after all

In announcing the United States women’s basketball Olympic team, administrators cited the need to place the 12 best or most deserving on the roster.

“At the end of the day, the 12 that we selected will best represent us,” selection committee coordinator Jennifer Rizzotti said last month.

Not among the dozen selected, of course, was WNBA rookie sensation Caitlin Clark. Whether she deserved to be considered among that group was a debate point, but leaving her off was hardly some egregious snub.

Much of the pro-Clark argument was based on the fan attention and media coverage she would bring to the team in particular and women’s basketball in general. Many saw this as a missed opportunity, especially considering the U.S. are overwhelming favorites to easily cruise to an eighth consecutive gold medal in Paris. Why not add a popular young star?

USA Basketball went with the merit-over-marketing argument and that was fine. I agreed with it. The job is to win gold, not sell jerseys. Or it should be. The country has enough places where perception overwhelms reality.

Clark was named an alternate. Her time could wait.

Yet a lot’s happened in the five weeks since that announcement, not the least of which is that Clark has settled into the pro game and continues to prove herself as one of the best players in the world.

In her 11 WNBA games before reports broke that she would be left off the Olympic roster, Clark averaged 15.6 points and 6.4 assists while shooting 35.7 percent from the floor and 29.7 from three-point range.

In the 13 games since, she is averaging 17.9 points, 9.1 assists while shooting 44.4 overall and 37.7 from behind the arc. On Friday, she recorded her fifth consecutive double-double by scoring 20 points and dishing 13 assists in Indiana’s 95-86 over the Phoenix Mercury.

Also notable? Who wasn’t on the court for Phoenix — veteran point guard Diana Taurasi, who sat out her third consecutive game with a leg injury and just happens to be on the roster of Team USA.

Taurasi is a former WNBA MVP, three-time champion and the league’s all time leading scorer. During her college career at Connecticut she won three NCAA titles and was twice named player of the year. She’s won five Olympic golds — starting back in 2004 in Athens.

Many, including no less than the late Kobe Bryant, consider her the greatest women’s basketball player of all time.

She’s also 42 years old. Whether she was a better player than Clark back in early June was a fair debate. That USA Basketball chose her, even if it was by giving the final edge to its veteran, proven icon rather than its new idol, then who was to argue?

Except now Taurasi is injured and Clark is elevating her game, changing the math on the “best available 12” argument.

Both Taurasi and Clark are point guards with a flare for scoring. If Taurasi can’t play, then Clark is the natural replacement.

Phoenix plays at the Connecticut Sun on Sunday and the Washington Mystics on Tuesday. All eyes will be on whether Taurasi returns and, if so, in what form.

After that, the WNBA breaks for All-Star weekend and then shuts down for the Olympics. Essentially there will be no more time for Taurasi to show herself in game action.

Obviously if Taurasi can't play, then she should be replaced on the roster. Just this week, the U.S. men's team switched out an injured Kawhi Leonard for Boston Celtics forward Derrick White. "We gave it a valiant effort," Team USA coordinator Grant Hill said. "Unfortunately, we have to move forward."

It happens. Injuries happen. Hill noted that part of the consideration was what was best for Leonard and his NBA team, the Los Angeles Clippers. And that’s with the season still months away — not on hiatus.

Taurasi’s leg injury is undisclosed, so recovery time is unknown. Earlier this month she missed another game due to "back soreness." Taurasi is the ultimate competitor, but time is undefeated.

The deadline to call up an alternate such as Clark is 48 hours before the start of the Olympic tournament, which in this case is July 28 when Spain tips off against China. That means the cut off is less than two weeks away.

"Honestly, no disappointment,” Clark said when she didn’t make the initial team. “It just gives me something to work for; it's a dream. Hopefully one day I can be there. ... Hopefully when four years comes back around, I can be there."

It might not take four years.

If USA Basketball is going to — rightfully — lean on the principle of sending the best of the best without consideration for anything but basketball, then if Taurasi doesn’t return to the court in top form, how can it claim that a recovering 42-year-old, fresh off a second injury this month and some prolonged downtime, is better than an alternate that is currently tearing up the WNBA?