Who doesn’t want to see Caitlin Clark in action? The Indiana Fever guard was recently included in the Team USA roster for the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers in Puerto Rico. However, basketball analyst Rachel DeMita has presented a never-ending selection conundrum that coach Kara Lawson is set to face with a hurt fanbase.

“It will be very interesting to see the lineups that they choose, and I’m sure the discourse around WNBA Twitter will be very civil, not!” DeMita said on Courtside Club. “Somebody’s going to be mad whether Chelsea Gray is starting or whether Caitlin Clark is starting. Somebody, somewhere, is going to be mad. That’s just how the discourse is around this league.”

Gray is not just a veteran. The 33-year-old is a four-time WNBA champion, with three of those titles coming with the dominant Las Vegas Aces. Gray was also part of the 2022 gold-winning team in the FIBA World Cup. Meanwhile, Clark, still in the early phases of her professional career, has already garnered a reputation as the brightest face in women’s basketball.

While the two of them are likely going to compete for one guard spot on the team, this isn’t the first time they’re in the same headline. Clark was infamously left off the 2024 Paris Olympics roster due to her lack of experience, while Gray’s selection raised questions because she was recovering from a leg injury at the time and wasn’t playing in the ongoing WNBA season either.

Coming back to the present day, the fans have also waited a long time to see Clark in action after she missed most of the Fever’s 2025 season because of injury. So, any more decisions that see her minutes shrink are bound to invite criticism.

News served to you like never before!

Prefer us on Google, To get latest news on feed

Prefer Us on Google

The new-look Team USA features a good mix of young stars and veterans, and Lawson will be spoiled for choice when selecting her starting five against Senegal. However, the focus will be on seeing how she balances talent and egos within the locker room.

Team USA presents a unique opportunity for fans at the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers

The fans are in for a treat in March, even though Team USA has already secured a spot at the FIBA World Cup in Berlin. This presents an opportunity for Kara Lawson to see which combinations make the most sense.

The roster comprises Aliyah Boston, Paige Bueckers, Sonia Citron, Caitlin Clark, Kahleah Copper, Chelsea Gray, Dearica Hamby, Rhyne Howard, Kiki Iriafen, Kelsey Plum, Angel Reese, and Jackie Young.

Notable veteran absences from the roster who are ideal locks for the 2028 Olympics include A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, and Napheesa Collier.

Clark, Bueckers, Citron, Iriafen, and Reese will make their senior national team competitive debuts. They were all part of the 18-member training camp in December and the “young and turnt” class, as Bueckers called it.

The opportunity to see them all playing on the same team is nothing short of a dream scenario for fans. It could also help dispel the misconstrued notion of enmity between the players, as many of them have already publicly refuted such rumors.

Team USA will face Senegal, hosts Puerto Rico, Italy, New Zealand, and Spain between March 11 and 17.