Sports
'A great problem': Could Caitlin Clark make the U.S. Olympic team?
Caitlin Clark already heard her name called once this week, but the most heralded No. 1 draft pick in WNBA history is still in contention to make an even more exclusive roster this summer.
Before even playing a WNBA game, Clark has already become a key figure in the U.S. Olympic roster discussion as the United States goes for its eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal this summer in Paris. The Iowa star was invited to participate in the senior national team’s training camp in April, but could not attend as the Hawkeyes advanced to the Final Four on the same weekend.
A six-person committee, which is led by U.S. 3×3 head coach Jennifer Rizzotti and South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley and includes former star player Seimone Augustus, will make the final decision. Cheryl Reeve, who is taking over national tem head coach duties from Staley, will not play a significant role in the selection process. The Minnesota Lynx coach and president of basketball operations is happy to sit this one out.
“Thank goodness,” Reeve said with a hearty chuckle during the U.S. Olympic media summit Wednesday.
While the men’s team announced its Olympic roster Wednesday, the women’s team likely won’t reveal its final group until the summer. In 2021, USA Basketball didn’t name its women’s roster until about one month before the Tokyo Games opened. The WNBA season, which begins May 14, will break from July 21 to Aug. 14 for the Olympic Games. The Paris Games open on July 26.
“I just know that it’s a struggle,” Reeve said of cutting the roster down. “Every time they’re making a decision — this time it’s Caitlin, last time it was Nneka [Ogwumike], before that it was Candace Parker. … No matter what you do, you’ve left someone off that someone really thinks you should have brought. And that’s a great problem for the U.S., right?”
Breanna Stewart was the last WNBA rookie to make the U.S. Olympic team, in 2016. The New York Liberty star and reigning WNBA most valuable player knows the difficult path ahead if Clark makes the cut.
Stewart remembers how relentless the transition from college to the pros was. She felt like she was sprinting on a hamster wheel going from winning her fourth national championship with Connecticut on April 5, being drafted first overall by the Seattle Storm on April 14, being named to the Olympic team on April 27 and playing in her first WNBA game on May 15.
“I was just trying to be a sponge,” Stewart said. “I knew I was the youngest one on this Olympic team by far, so my advice would be to be a sponge and really just to take it all in. It’s a lot. A lot’s going to be thrown at Caitlin, just in her rookie year anyways.”
Stewart leaned on former WNBA and Olympic teammate Sue Bird for support through her professional transition. The five-time Olympic gold medalist retired in 2022.
Bird’s departure marks a new era at point guard for the United States. While Las Vegas Aces star Chelsea Gray will likely return for her second Olympics, Reeve acknowledged the relative lack of depth at that position compared to a loaded frontcourt that includes Stewart, two-time WNBA champion A’ja Wilson and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner.
New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu and forwards Aliyah Boston (Indiana Fever), Rhyne Howard (Atlanta Dream) and Shakira Austin (Washington Mystics) are vying for their first Olympic teams. Las Vegas Aces guards Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young also attended April’s 5×5 team training camp after helping the United States win 3×3 gold in Tokyo. The competition will be stiff, even for Clark, whose record-setting NCAA career made her a crossover star who helped propel women’s basketball into the mainstream.
“Obviously she’s a great player and what she’s been able to accomplish in college, and now she’s taking it to the next level in the WNBA, and we’ll see how things go,” Stewart said. “Obviously what I want to do is play alongside the other players that are named on this roster. I don’t know what that’s going to be, but I’m sure Caitlin has played USA Basketball before and I don’t think her time with USA Basketball is going to be done anytime soon.”
Clark does have experience on the international stage, but only on the junior level, winning gold medals at the 2019 and 2021 FIBA U19 World Cups and the 2017 FIBA U16 Americas Championship. She did not play in the AmeriCup tournament last summer on a team that included fellow recent WNBA draft picks Rickea Jackson, Angel Reese and Charisma Osborne.
Although Stewart made her Olympic debut as a WNBA rookie, she was already a regular on the senior national team. She was the only college athlete among 32 players considered for the 2014 FIBA World Championship and she made the final cut as a rising junior at UConn.
She was “a baby” when the U.S. team won gold in Rio, Stewart recalled with a wistful smile. She was learning from stars like Bird, Taurasi, Tamika Catchings, Sylvia Fowles, Maya Moore and Lindsay Whalen. Every Olympic team could easily feature 12 WNBA veterans, but the organizing committee’s intentional roster construction that emphasizes a mix of experience and youth has been critical in sustaining the dynasty across generations.
“We come together and we have this sense of selflessness and pride because of the culture that when we were young, we were kind of thrown into,” Stewart said. “Now for the next generation of people … now they know. We’re coming together to represent our country.”
Sports
Cooper Flagg wins NBA Rookie of the Year after Kon Knueppel’s Play-In Tournament struggles swayed voters
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Dallas Mavericks first overall pick Cooper Flagg was named the 2025-26 NBA Rookie of the Year, and it was a thrillingly close vote in the end.
Flagg narrowly beat out Charlotte Hornets’ sharpshooter Kon Knueppel, his fellow Duke Blue Devils star who went three picks later than Flagg in last year’s draft, earning 56 first-place votes compared to Knueppel’s 44. So, Flagg finished with 412 total vote points to Knueppel’s 386.
Philadelphia 76ers guard VJ Edgecombe finished in third place with 96 points (93 third-place votes), while San Antonio Spurs’ Dylan Harper and Memphis Grizzlies Cedric Coward also got third-place votes.
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg controls the ball in the second half against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Dallas, Texas, on March 30, 2026. (Gareth Patterson/AP Photo)
Flagg marked the second-youngest player to ever win the award, as the 19-year-old was only behind Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James.
For most of the season, it appeared Knueppel was going to win the award, but multiple voters came out publicly and said Knueppel’s Play-In Tournament struggles factored into them changing their minds for Flagg.
MAVERICKS’ COOPER FLAGG ADMITS ROOKIE SEASON HAS BEEN ‘MENTALLY TAXING’ AMID THE TEAM’S STRUGGLES
Knueppel had just six points on 2-of-12 shooting in 34 minutes during the Hornets’ electric 127-126 overtime win over the Miami Heat at the start of the tournament. Then, in the 121-90 loss to the Orlando Magic, he shot 3 of 11 for 11 points (4 of 5 from the free-throw line as well), and he posted a minus-26 while on the court.
Flagg noted being keen on what Knueppel was doing during the year, showing love to his fellow rookie.
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg watches from the bench during the second quarter against the Orlando Magic at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on April 3, 2026. (Jerome Miron/Imagn Images)
“I see the games every night. I can check the box scores,” he said about watching Knueppel’s stat lines closely, per ESPN. “I think also I was watching Kon just because that’s one of my brothers.
“We had such a good connection, and we’re gonna be there for each other for the rest of our lives. I was watching him as a fan, as well, but there was obviously that competition at the same time.”
Flagg averaged 21 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game this year for the Mavericks. Those numbers had him among some NBA greats, as Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and Luka Doncic were the only rookiesMichael Jordan and Luka Doncic were the only rookies before Flagg to average at least 20 points, six rebounds and four assists since the NBA-ABA merger, ESPN pointed out. Flagg also led all rookies in scoring this season.
As for Knueppel, he dropped 18.5 points per game with 5.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists, but while Flagg had him beat in those categories, he reset the rookie 3-pointers made record with 273. That number also led the NBA this season. Knueppel was also a key piece in the Hornets getting into the Play-In Tournament to begin with, finishing 44-38 before being eliminated by the Magic.
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg dribbles during the second half of an NBA game against the Los Angeles Lakers in Dallas on April 5, 2026. (LM Otero/AP)
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Flagg and the Mavs didn’t fare too well this season, finishing 26-56, though he led the team in scoring, rebounding and assists this season. Despite the losses, Flagg continued to show that age didn’t matter, becoming the youngest player to ever have games with 35, 40, 45 and 50 points.
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Alijah Arenas will withdraw his name from the NBA draft and return to USC for his sophomore season, according to a person familiar with the decision not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
The former five-star prospect, whose father is NBA star Gilbert Arenas, was expected to spend just a single season at USC before declaring for the draft. But nothing went as planned during Arenas’ freshman season.
Arenas was involved in a single-car accident in April 2025 and hospitalized for six days after a Tesla Cybertruck he was driving hit a tree and burst into flames. The week that he returned to practice after the accident, Arenas learned he needed knee surgery. He didn’t debut for the Trojans until late January. And when he finally made it into the lineup, Arenas was thrown into a starring role in the middle of a brutal Big Ten slate and struggled to adjust.
Still, there were glimpses of the player that Compton Magic AAU founder Etop Udo-Ema told The Times had the potential to one day “be the face of the NBA.” Over one stretch in early February, Arenas had 29 points in a win over Indiana, scored 24 and hit a winning shot at Penn State and put up 25 points at Ohio State.
“Just the things he can do, the IQ he has, what he can see, the way that he moves, the length, the size,” Udo-Ema said, “he’s the most talented guy I’ve ever seen.”
But Arenas told The Times in late February that he was unhappy with the results of his freshman campaign to that point.
“I know what I’m capable of. And I’m not there yet,” Arenas said. “Simple as that.”
Arenas had submitted his name as an early entrant in the NBA draft, the deadline for which was Monday. But ultimately, he opted to return to USC as a sophomore, in hopes of starting anew.
Arenas returns to a roster that should be even more talented in the 2026-27 season. Guard Rodney Rice and forward Jacob Cofie also announced earlier this month that they would return, while three top-25 prospects are set to join the roster this summer.
USC also already added a trio of players in the portal, including a 7-footer in Connecticut’s Eric Reibe and an experienced starter in Georgetown’s KJ Lewis.
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Xia Brookside certainly has made an impact on Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) over the last few weeks.
As Brookside climbs the ladder to get back into the TNA Knockouts World Championship, she appeared to make an enemy along the way. Brookside helped Arianna Grace retain the title over Lei Ying Lee at Rebellion when she put Grace’s foot on the rope to break up the pin attempt.
ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
Xia Brookside attends the “Freelance” screening at Regal Waterford Lakes in Orlando, Fla., on Oct. 24, 2023. (Jose Devillegas/Getty Images)
Brookside was far from finished with Lee. Last week, Lee wanted answers from Brookside. The English wrestler gave Lee a hug in the middle of the ring, but assaulted her. Their feud is heating up.
Outside of the ring, Brookside revealed on Sunday she was starting “a new chapter.” She posted a video of herself getting baptized.
“Something I’ve been considering for a very long time, after getting consistent in going to church weekly, reading daily and the incredible support from my man, it felt like the easiest decision I’ve ever made,” she wrote on X. “Thank you to everyone that came to support me.”
Candice LeRae and Xia Brookside compete during NXT at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla., on Sept. 2, 2025. (Matt Pendleton/WWE)
Brookside, whose real name is Xia-Louise Brooks, is the daughter of retired pro wrestling star Robbie Brookside. He currently works as a trainer and producer for WWE NXT.
She started her pro wrestling career in the United Kingdom and worked her way through the independent scene, eventually joining WWE in 2018. She was featured in WWE NXT UK before she joined Stardom in Japan and eventually TNA.
She’s held championships in International Pro Wrestling United Kingdom and Rise Wrestling during her career. She was also ranked No. 91 on Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s list of top women’s wrestlers in 2019.
Mina Shirakawa enters the ring during the women’s pro-wrestling event Stardom at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on Dec. 29, 2022. (Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)
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Brookside is back to making an impact on TNA again and is sure to be in line for the knockouts title down the line.
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