Cheryl Reeve, the coach of the U.S. Olympics women’s basketball team, has set her X account to private and otherwise refused to discuss star WNBA rookie Caitlin Clark being left off the roster.
Last week, it was officially announced that Clark was not on the 12-woman roster, which ignited a firestorm across the sports media as there was a debate of whether they should have made a spot for her given how much attention she is generating for the WNBA, in addition to her rapid improvement in the professional ranks.
Reeve did not respond to an email from The Post on Monday asking if she wished to comment on why she made her posts private or about the Clark omission.
Through an Olympics spokesperson last week, Reeve declined to comment to USA Today’s Christine Brennan about leaving Clark off the roster.
It is not clear exactly when Reeve set her X account to private, but it was public in the immediate aftermath of the Olympics roster announcement.
Committee chair Jen Rizzotti said popularity did not factor into the decision.
“Here’s the basketball criteria that we were given as a committee and how do we evaluate our players based on that?” Rizzotti told The Associated Press. “And when you base your decision on criteria, there were other players that were harder to cut because they checked a lot more boxes. Then sometimes it comes down to position, style of play for Cheryl and then sometimes a vote.
“It would be irresponsible for us to talk about her in a way other than how she would impact the play of the team because it wasn’t the purview of our committee to decide how many people would watch or how many people would root for the U.S. It was our purview to create the best team we could for Cheryl.”
Reeve, 57, has coached the Minnesota Lynx since 2010 and won four WNBA championships.
During the WNBA preseason, Reeve groused about Clark’s professional debut with the Fever getting shown on the league’s app while her own team’s game could only be watched by ticketholders.
When the WNBA promoted the Fever preseason game on its X account, Reeve sent a snarky response.
“ALSO in action tonight – @minnesotalynx vs @chicagosky. 7pm CST,” Reeve wrote last month.
“Though fans won’t be able to watch, #Lynx fans can go to the Lynx app to follow along via play by play. Or if you are in market, come to the game…as we start the season off right #12teams #theWismorethanoneplayer.”
The Olympics roster is comprised of Diana Taurasi, Napheesa Collier, Kahleah Copper, Chelsea Gray, Brittney Griner, Sabrina Ionescu, Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum, Breanna Stewart, Alyssa Thomas, A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young.
