Why Fever’s Caitlin Clark, Dream’s Angel Reese are not starting for Team USA

This week, the Team USA women’s basketball team will take the floor against Hungary as part of the FIBA World Cup. Numerous WNBA stars are on the team for America, including former college rivals and current WNBA adversaries Angel Reese of the Atlanta Dream and Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever.

Some fans were surprised to learn that neither Clark nor Reese would be starting on the American national team, and now, the reasoning for that decision has been revealed.

“I think that our starting group’s done a pretty good job of getting us off to good starts, and rotationally from game to game we could change things, but I like where we are right now,” said Team USA coach Kara Lawson, per Jackson Thompson of FOX News.

Indeed, the current starting group for the American squad has performed well, but fans are understandably clamoring to see the biggest-name players in the world take the floor initially.

The situation isn’t dissimilar to the predicament that Team USA men’s head coach Steve Kerr found himself in during the Olympics in 2024, when some stars, including Boston Celtics wing Jayson Tatum, got shortchanged in terms of playing time due to how loaded the roster was overall.

Still, Clark and Reese figure to see plenty of time on the floor in the match against Hungary.

Both the Fever and Dream have been enjoying strong seasons, led by their respective stars, and it’s not off the table that fans could be treated to a playoff matchup between Clark and Reese at some point down the line.

In any case, Team USA’s game against Hungary is set for Thursday at 5:30 am ET.

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