Arike Ogunbowale took her name out of US Olympic pool: ‘Politics in everything’

WNBA

By Caroline McCarthy

Arike Ogunbowale is over “politics.”

The Dallas Wings star revealed on Thursday that she took her name out of the USA Basketball pool for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics because she felt the selection process had little to do with “your game.”

“When it comes to [the Olympic trials], it really doesn’t have much to do with your game,” Ogunbowale said on “Nightcap” with Shannon Sharpe, Gilbert Arenas and Chad Johnson.

“It’s really about who they feel like fits with the team. So I actually took my name out the pool months ago. That’s not saying I didn’t think maybe last year, I would be on the team and I was good enough to make the team, but when the list came out, I knew I would not be that one.”

Ogunbowale said she didn’t feel the selection committee wanted her on the team, adding that the criteria for who is selected is “subjective.”

“Everybody’s great in the WNBA, so who they choose is who they choose,” she said.

Ogunbowale further explained that politics always has surrounded USA Basketball.

“Whether that’s USA Basketball, whether that’s All-Star teams, whether that’s first team, and stuff like that, there’s politics,” Ogunbowale said. “Even with the men’s [basketball teams]. There’s politics in everything, so I’m going to just leave it at that.”

Ogunbawale was the fifth pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft and is a three-time All-Star.

She was named to the All-WNBA First Team in 2021 and Second Team in 2022.

This year, she’s averaging an impressive 26.2 points per game with 5.5 assists.

Her remarks come just after Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark was snubbed from the 2024 Olympic roster.

USA Today reported that Clark’s popularity and the potential reaction from fans to her potential lack of playing time on a stacked roster factored into the selection committee’s decision to leave her off the team.

U.S. coach Cheryl Reeve’s roster will rely more heavily on veteran players, with Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier, Jewell Loyd and Chelsea Gray all expected to compete in France.

Team USA has previously left off some notable WNBA players from its roster.

Candace Parker, a two-time WNBA MVP was left off of the 2016 Olympics team.

She believed this was because UConn head coach Geno Auriemma, a powerful voice on the team’s selection committee, didn’t like her.

“There’s a number of players who are deserving … but how many times are we gonna say it’s unfair?” Parker told reporters after her snub. “How many times are we gonna say it’s not politics? I think we all know that.”

Nneka Ogwumike — the 2016 WNBA MVP — was left off the roster later at the 2020 Tokyo games.