Team USA faced China in its first group stage game on Friday, Sept. 4, in Berlin. After top stars like A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum pulled out of the FIBA World Cup, there was hope among WNBA and Caitlin Clark fans that the Indiana Fever star would be part of the starting lineup. Unfortunately, a lot of them were left disappointed after Team USA’s starting lineup was announced.

For the first group stage game, Kara Lawson went with the starting lineup featuring Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young, Kahleah Copper, Breanna Stewart, and Napheesa Collier. The USA head coach went with Gray as the lead playmaker over Clark, but many fans expressed their disappointment on X when UnderDog WNBA shared it. 

In some sense, the backlash from fans does seem warranted. Caitlin Clark is leading the league in assists and is currently ranked third among scorers in the 2026 WNBA season. Not having the lead playmaker of the best offensive team in the WNBA wouldn’t sit well, especially with Clark’s supporters.

However, Gray is one of the greatest point guards in women’s basketball history. Moreover, her credibility as a starter over Clark also comes from her experience. She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and won a gold medal as part of the last FIBA World Cup in 2022. On the other hand, Caitlin Clark has never represented the US national team at such a world stage.

Despite that, fans took offense when Lawson didn’t give the starting spot to the Fever star.

“Imagine having the most marketable talent in your sport EVER and not starting them in the World Cup,” the fan said.

Caitlin Clark is perhaps the best-known female basketball face in the world. The push to use Clark for her marketability is not something new. Previously, before Team USA selection for the Paris Olympics, analysts like Stephen A. Smith slammed the team selection committee for not selecting Clark given her marketability.

But the fans’ fury wasn’t limited to Clark’s omission from the starting lineup. According to a fan, “Paige and Clark should be starters over those bums.”

Fans were perhaps raising questions about putting Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young as starters. Both Caitlin Clark and Bueckers could have made good scoring guards in the starting lineup. However, with Breanna Stewart, Collier, and Copper, the USA team won’t need much help in scoring. 

The sentiment was similar from some other fans as well. A fan even asked if Team USA was deliberately trying to snub Clark.

“Are they trying to lose? Trying to humiliate Caitlin? I’m not watching this crap,” the fan said.

“Stewart and Gray being starters after playing mid all season is wild but it’s the WNBA, so I’m not shocked,” another upset fan said.

However, for some fans, Lawson’s idea of playing her youngsters from the bench was better. The fan said that “those youngens coming off the bench with their speed are going to shock China into a coma. LOL!”

However, it is worth considering that when a US national basketball team is assembled at such a big stage, there is barely a talent difference between the starters and the bench players, rahther it’s the experience that’s the sepearates them. Interestingly, Caitlin Clark ultimately did end up as the leading playmaker of USA’s 94-61 game over China with 14 points and 11 assists.