Caitlin Clark’s Olympic Hopes Receive Big Update on Tuesday

On Tuesday, however, her Olympic hopes received an update.

According to a report from The Athletic’s Chantel Jennings and Joe Vardon, "USA Basketball will announce a major shift in its structuring on Thursday when Sue Bird is announced as the managing director for the USA women’s national team for the 2028 Olympic cycle, according to two sources close to the program."

Instead of a committee choosing players and coaches for the Olympics and World Cup, Bird will now handle that job.

Bird retired from the WNBA in 2022 after a legendary career. She’s a four-time WNBA champion, 13-time All-Star and five-time Olympic gold medalist with plenty of international experience.

The 44-year-old hasn’t shied away from praising Clark’s game in the past. In fact, she’s said the reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year has helped shift negative energy surrounding the women’s game.

"Caitlin, in particular, her long-distance threes. I always said this, we finally got the antidote to dunking..." Bird said during the "Making It Weird with Sue Bird Podcast." "All we heard our entire existence was, 'You guys are boring. You don't dunk. Oh, maybe you should lower the rims. It would be more exciting.' And the thing about the long three is, it is what it is. The distance is the distance. It goes in or it doesn't. It's the same for everybody. So in a sense, I think she snapped people out of this trance that was very negative towards women's basketball, and now she's brought this huge group."

This move by USA Basketball comes as a result of expanding "financial opportunities" in women's basketball.

"As financial opportunities for women grow in the sport and in marketing, USA Basketball wanted to make sure it was doing everything possible to ensure the allure of playing major international events remained strong, and a phone call from Bird is going to go along way with players, one source close to the USA program said," Jennings and Vardon added.