Team USA announced its women’s basketball roster for the Tokyo Olympics this week and there were a few omissions from the talented roster.
The six-time defending Olympic gold-medal squad will not include Olympic gold medalists Tamika Catchings, Elena Delle Donne and Candace Parker.
Nneka Ogwumike, a regular for Team USA – winning gold medals in two past FIBA World Cups – will not be joining the team in Tokyo this summer, either. Ogwumike was previously snubbed from the 2016 Rio Olympics roster the same year she was named the WNBA's MVP.
Other members of the gold medal-winning 2016 Olympics team that will not be competing this summer are Seimone Augustus, who retired from the league last month, Angel McCougtry, who had been out this season with an injury, Maya Moore, who did not return for the 2020 or 2021 season, and Lindsay Whalen, who is now out of the league and the head coach of the University of Minnesota's women's basketball team.
Nneka Ogwumike, right, was left off the U.S. team as she rehabs from a knee injury. (Photo: Brad Mills, USA TODAY Sports)
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Head coach Dawn Staley addressed Ogwumike’s absence, citing potential health concerns.
"Breaks my heart that Nneka isn't on this team," Staley said, according to the Mercury News. "Having to make a decision today, if we had to make a decision a month from now I'm sure she'd be healthy. This was one of the things she wanted to do."
Ogwumike suffered a knee injury at the beginning of June and her timeline to return was four to six weeks. Team USA's first game is scheduled for July 27.
Ogwumike’s younger sister and teammate Chiney – who is also a league All-Star – took to social media to voice her distaste.
"First things first, some will think I'm 100% biased," Ogwumike wrote on Twitter. "This is my big sis we're talking about. But there are the facts and she deserved her respect."
✔️WNBA MVP & Champion in 2016 (last Olympic year)
✔️6x All-Star
✔️4x All-WNBA
✔️4x WNBA All-Defensive Team
✔️2x FIBA World Cup Gold Medalist
✔️ No. 1 pick & ROY
✔️Euroleague Champion
✔️WNBPA President
✔️oh, and she is one of few who went to every Team USA camp the last 5 years pic.twitter.com/iEzDduj4Kj
Ogwumike went on to list her sister's qualifications, further raising eyebrows as to why she was omitted for the second consecutive Olympics.
Ogwumike's stacked résumé also includes six All-Star appearances, four All-WNBA team nods, four All-WNBA All-Defensive Team appearances and one Euroleague Championship. She was a Team USA camp participant the last five years and was Team USA's leading scorer last year. Ogwumike is also the WNBA players association president.
Former WNBA player Devereaux Peters posted a lengthy Twitter thread criticizing the team's selection process and emphasized her disapproval of both Ogwumike and Parker not being on the list.
"USA basketball has been fraudulent as hell for eternity because of the BS they spew to the players about the process," wrote Peters. "And frankly a lot of people are sick of it. That's why you see all these players leaving to play for other countries & the USA pool looks the way it does."
Okay so let’s talk about bum ass USA Basketball….I’m going to preface this by saying I am happy for the players that made it and I have no issues with them whatsoever. They work their butts off for that opportunity and each of them deserves their moment…..
"Okay so let's get to 2016 cuz now a couple players should be falling off we making room for those 'next up right?!' Then boom Candace don't make the team. Same coaching staff/committee. We know the vibes. That was so blatant it doesn't even need an explanation. But next up right … So now it clearly ain't about stats, cuz Nneka had those above anybody. It ain't waiting next up cuz she was that. So what's the excuse now????"
In 2018, Parker announced on a podcast that she is "not playing USA basketball any more," after she was shockingly left off the 2016 roster despite being a key player on both the 2008 and 2012 gold-medal teams.
Contact Analis Bailey at [email protected] or on Twitter @analisbailey.
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