Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and the rest of the WNBA All-Star team is taking Saturday’s game very seriously. Head coach Cheryl Miller exposed her players for wanting to “beat the brakes” off of the United States Olympic Team.
They didn’t expect that piece of information to get out!
Miller, one of the greatest women’s basketball players of all-time, won a gold medal with Team USA at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. She knows what it takes to play on that level and will coach the WNBA All-Star team against their Olympic competition, even though she has yet to accept the title of “coach” because she doesn’t know how things are going to go against the best team in the world.
“For me, it’s super special… two people that I look up to & idolize.”
— Eliav Gabay (@eliavgabay) July 19, 2024
Caitlin Clark on what a Cheryl Miller practice is like & what being around Cheryl & @AnnMeyers has meant to her:@Sports360AZ #WNBA #WNBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/9F0UvIRd7Z
Of course, there is some underlying drama involved with Saturday’s exhibition game. Clark was left off of the team as a rookie— which would make sense if she wasn’t the biggest women’s basketball star in the world or the greatest scorer in college basketball history.
The snub wouldn’t be that big of a deal if Cheryl Reeve didn’t make the entire situation awkward with her abrasive attitude toward the No. 1 overall pick. Clark humbled the 57-year-old coach in a win over the Minnesota Lynx last weekend, but the tension between them remains palpable.
For this reason, and many others, Saturday’s All-Star Weekend finale is going to be intense. That is not normally the case. All-Star games are typically pretty relaxed. Not this year.
Miller unknowingly put her team on blast during a press conference on Friday night.
She revealed that the WNBA All-Stars want to beat the Olympians and their reactions are hilarious. It’s going to be a game!
coach miller exposed them for wanting to beat the olympic team real bad and their reactions were so funny help pic.twitter.com/W12TKmxsdH
— vi ✰ (@ccloveoml) July 19, 2024
Team USA has won four-straight gold medals at the Olympics. The expectation is that this year’s roster will return home from Paris with a fifth. Silver or Bronze would be disappointing. Not being on the podium would be unacceptable.
Saturday’s All-Star game serves as a great tune-up for Team USA. However, it would be pretty poetic if Caitlin Clark and company took down Reeve after Reeve left them out!