Caitlin Clark sign triggers salty response from A’ja Wilson and Brittney Griner at Olympics

Team USA played Japan to open group stage action

Caitlin Clark sign triggers salty response from A'ja Wilson and Brittney Griner at Olympics

The United States women’s national basketball team rolled to a win over Japan at Pierre Mauroy Stadium to begin its gold medal campaign at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris. However, it was a pre-game scene, well before the opening tip, that captured the attention of two US stars instead of a feisty Japan squad.

If their bemused reactions were any indication, Brittney Griner and A’ja Wilson seemed to notice a small fan-made sign at pre-game shootaround that not only called for the inclusion of WNBA rookie sensation Caitlin Clark on the Olympic team — but predicted disaster for the national team following her controversial exclusion from the 12-player squad.

A small sign…but a big reaction

Sideline reporter Kerith Burke captured footage of Griner, Wilson, and Alyssa Thomas — players with three WNBA championships between them — pointing and snickering over a Japanese fan’s sign that read “you need Caitlin Clark to beat us.” Head coach Cheryl Reeve has not spent much time talking about Clark’s hotly-debated omission from the squad, but the conversation has now crossed continents, with fans wanting to see Clark play in Paris.

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Clark was named an All-Star as a rookie, and the Indiana Fever guard helped Team WNBA defeat Team USA at the All-Star Game in Phoenix on July 20. She is the league leader in assists per game — and given her rapid improvement in recent weeks, it stands to reason that the former Iowa Hawkeyes star and the top overall pick in the 2024 draft might have been on the flight to France had roster selections occurred just a little later.

Even still, Griner, Wilson, and their US teammates didn’t seem overly affected by the swirling debate as to why Clark didn’t make the cut. Wilson, the two-time WNBA MVP, led the United States to its 56th consecutive win at the Olympics with a 24-point, 13-rebound double-double, as the Americans eventually pulled away for a dominant 102-76 win to open up Group C.

RUMOR: Dak Prescott Predicted To Leave Dallas Cowboys For Record-Setting Contract

Dak Prescott of Dallas Cowboys looking on.Dak Prescott (Photo by Courtney Culbreath/Getty Images)
Surprisingly, the Dallas Cowboys have yet to extend star quarterback Dak Prescott as the 2024 regular season inches closer.

The 31-year-old Dak Prescott is entering the last season of a four-year contract extension worth $160 million that he signed with Dallas in 2021. Prescott has all the leverage now after seeing fellow quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa (Miami Dolphins) and Jordan Love (Green Bay Packers) sign extensions north of $200 million just last week.

Prescott’s deal with Dallas also contains no-tag and no-trade clauses, so the three-time Pro Bowler can hit free agency next summer if Jerry Jones doesn’t finalize an extension. And if that happens, Prescott will be the biggest name to enter the open market next year.

Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox predicted the future contracts for Prescott and San Francisco 49ers signal-caller Brock Purdy after the Tagovailoa and Love extensions. Knox projects that Prescott will leave Dallas and sign a four-year, $224 million deal in free agency:

“The Dallas Cowboys have botched pretty much every aspect of Prescott’s contract situation throughout this offseason. It began early, when franchise owner and team president Jerry Jones stated that he wanted to see more before handing out extensions to Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons…

If Kirk Cousins, at 35 and coming off a torn Achilles, can get a four-year deal worth $45 million annually in free agency, Prescott can get considerably more. That reality might have Jones coming to grips with the fact that he’ll be looking for a new quarterback in 2025…

It’s starting to feel like a split between Dallas and Prescott is inevitable.”