Arike Ogunbowale, Dallas Wings star, announced on Tuesday. That she would withdraw her name from the United States women’s basketball Olympic team consideration. She cited the reason as her own decision. calls political factors in the process of picking.
Olympic Politics: Ogunbowale Explains Withdrawal
Speaking candidly on the “Nightcap” podcast released last Thursday, Ogunbowale revealed. That she removed herself from the Olympic pool several months ago. While one of the better pure scorers in the league and one of the more consistent performers. Across her six-season career with the Dallas Wings, Ogunbowale seemed to believe that more went into the selection process for the Olympic squad than on-court performance.
” Ogunbowale said that stuff doesn’t have much to do with your game. Instead, it’s about who they feel like is the right fit for their team. That’s on the men’s side, too.”
When the U.S. women’s basketball team 12-member squad for the Paris Games was announced Tuesday. An uproar erupted, as big names like Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark and even Ogunbowale herself did not feature in the list. Ogunbowale reviewed her decision and acknowledged that preparing for the Olympics requires commitment. She appraised herself for not being chosen and sits near the top in WNBA scoring, averaging 24.9 points per game.
Ogunbowale Reflects on Olympic Exclusion
“Everybody thinks it’s subjective who should be on the team in the WNBA,” Ogunbowale said
The Olympic team guard positions are full of veteran players, featuring a six-time Olympian in Diana Taurasi and two-time Olympians in Jewell Loyd and Chelsea Gray. Ogunbowale expressed resignation despite giving a notable performance and not making it to the final roster.
“I’m not gonna give you my time if I know the vibe,” she added, referring to how she knows whether or not a team camp is worth continuing.
Ogunbowale’s sentiments reflect some of the concerns other players have raised over time about personal relationships and other outside reasons for selecting teams, not just performance on the court. Her success collegiately at Notre Dame, where she won a national championship in 2018, and professionally as the fifth overall pick in the WNBA draft in 2019, didn’t protect her from asking questions about the process.
While USA Basketball officials did not want to respond to Ogunbowale’s comments that said politics were involved in the women’s selection, committee chair Jennifer Rizzotti emphasized the standard used in fielding the best team possible based strictly off a player’s body of work and merit.
“In the interview with ESPN, Rizzotti discussed a player’s body of work and why they merited being on the team.”
All-Star Matchup
Looking ahead, should Ogunbowale and Clark both become All-Stars. They could prepay the potential chance to face the Olympians prior to heading to Paris for the pending Games. The U.S. team will play against a team of WNBA All-Stars in the All-Star Game in Phoenix on July 20.
In 2021, there was evidence of Ogunbowale’s prowess when she led Team WNBA to a 93–85 upset win over Team USA at the All-Star Game, earning MVP with 26 points in Las Vegas.
All the more interesting against the backdrop of ongoing debates about selection processes, Ogunbowale’s decision. To withdraw from Olympic consideration drives home persistent and profound concerns within the women’s basketball community. About team selection processes being transparent and fair. Now that the Tokyo Games are near, Attention will shift almost definitely to the performance of the U.S. Women’s basketball team led by its seasoned veterans when the games go to Tokyo seeking Olympic glory on the international floor.
