With the announcement of the Team USA basketball roster Monday, it was inevitable that somebody great would get left off of the roster. But nobody could quite believe it when none other than Nneka Ogwumike was left off of the Olympic team — again.

Tuesday saw Los Angeles Sparks head coach Derek Fisher speak out in earnest, stating that the Sparks organization is “p—d” about Ogwumike’s omission from the U.S. Olympic Team. He added that it is a “freaking travesty” that she may go her entire career without playing for Team USA in the Olympics.

We’ve seen big players be inexplicably left off the Olympics squad before, most notably Candace Parker in 2016. The difference between CP3 and Nneka? Parker had at least been named to an Olympic team before. On the flip side, Ogwumike has had three different opportunities now to be named to the team and has still yet to receive an Olympics invitation. 

Let’s face it: Ogwumike isn’t just the biggest snub this year. She may be the biggest snub in Team USA basketball history. Here’s why:

1. She’s the only WNBA MVP to have never made an Olympic roster

The former No. 1 overall pick and Rookie of the Year, Ogwumike won MVP in 2016 — another year in which she didn’t make the Olympic roster. The six-time WNBA All-Star was also named to the All-WNBA First Team that year en route to becoming a WNBA Champion with the Los Angeles Sparks. 

Her banner year in 2016 also saw her set several WNBA records, including making 23 straight field goals without a miss through three games. She also set the record for most field goals in a single game without a miss with 12 made field goals against Dallas. 

𝗢𝗧𝗗 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟲 🚨@nnekaogwumike set a new @WNBA record by making 23 straight field goals across three games! 🔥#RootedInLA pic.twitter.com/DRQHIQQf4J

— Los Angeles Sparks (@LASparks) June 14, 2021

Ogwumike’s scoring efficiency that year was literally unprecedented — she set the record for highest true shooting percentage (73.7%) for both the WNBA and NBA.

How the forward didn’t make the Olympic team that year is a mystery, and she’s only gotten better since, making this cycle’s snub even more apparent. 

2. She makes an impact every time she plays with Team USA 

It’s not like Ogwumike has never played for Team USA, having been a member of the senior National Team since 2014.

She started off her Team USA career in Argentina in 2008 as a member of the U-18 FIBA America team in Argentina, helping to lead the team to a 5-0 record while leading the squad in scoring and rebounding. There, Ogwumike was named MVP of the tournament. 

The same story unfolded at the U19 World Championship in 2009, where Ogwumike led Team USA in scoring and rebounding and was named tournament MVP. The star has also been part of two World Cup winning teams, in 2014 and 2018. 

More recently, Ogwumike was one of eight players who participated in USA Basketball’s expanded Pre-Olympic Training Program. She is also one of a few players who has attended every Team USA camp in the past five years, which had paid off up until this point: she was second in scoring for Team USA in 2019-20 and was named the 2020 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament MVP.

🤔 pic.twitter.com/5a0v8CIYWI

— Erica Ogwumike (@ericaogwumikee) June 21, 2021

Despite Ogwumike helping Team USA qualify for the Olympics, she still wasn’t included on the final roster. 

3. She’s a leader on and off the court

The leadership that Ogwumike brings cannot be understated. As WNBPA president, Ogwumike has made an outsized impact on the WNBA. During the league’s latest CBA negotiations, Ogwumike helped to negotiate arguably the most impactful CBA in league history. 

As Devereaux Peters put it, Ogwumike “has quite literally changed the face of the league as president of the WNBPA.”

Two months later, Ogwumike and the player’s association helped negotiate the 2020 “wubble” season, making sure that players received their full contracts for the shortened season and playoffs. 

“I have watched Nneka put 144 players first each & every day for YEARS,” sister Chiney wrote on Twitter. “No one practices harder. Plays harder. Cares more. No one is a better teammate or leader.”

“Representation matters and there is no better representative or ambassador for the game THAT HAS GAME than Nnemkadi Ogwumike.”

She’s also brought that leadership with her to Team USA, as coach Dawn Staley told reporters that Ogwumike has been a “great voice” during training camp and practices. 

4. And let’s be honest: Her injury doesn’t seem to be a factor

In talks with reporters, Staley alluded to the notion that Ogwumike’s knee injury was a factor in the decision to keep her off the Olympic team.

“Having to make a decision today,” she said. “If we had to make a decision a month from now, I’m sure she’d be healthy.”

Ogwumike is set to return in early July, more than two weeks before the Olympic basketball tournament begins. Diana Taurasi is also presently injured with a fractured sternum, and yet she was named to the team.

It’s hard to say who should have been left off in Ogwumike’s place. But she’s also too good of a player, both on and off the court, to have been left on the outside looking in (again).

U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that the USWNT will play their last home game on July 16th in the lead-up to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The 2024 Send-Off Match against Costa Rica will take place at Washington, DC’s Audi Field — home to both the Washington Spirit and DC United — at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 16th. The friendly rounds out a four-game Olympic run-up campaign under incoming head coach Emma Hayes’ side, with the last two set to feature the finalized 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer Team roster.

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Hayes will appear on the USWNT sideline for the first time this June, helming the team as they embark on a two-game series against Korea Republic hosted by Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado on June 1st followed by Allianz Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota on June 4th. 

The team is then scheduled to meet a talented Mexico squad on July 13th at Gotham FC’s Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, where the Olympic-bound lineup will attempt to rewrite February’s shocking 2-0 loss to El Tri Femenil in the group stages of this year’s Concacaf W Gold Cup. And while clear roster favorites have emerged from both of this year’s Gold Cup and SheBelives Cup rosters, a spate of recent and recurring injuries means making it to the Olympics is still largely anyone’s game.

Broadcast and streaming channels for the USWNT's final July 16th friendly at Audi Field include TNT, truTV, Universo, Max, and Peacock.

The USA Basketball Women's National Team is still considering Caitlin Clark for a spot on the Paris Olympics squad, says selection committee chair Jennifer Rizzotti. 

On Monday, Rizzotti told the AP that the committee will be evaluating the college phenom’s Olympic prospects by keeping a close eye on her first few weeks of WNBA play with Indiana.

The move is somewhat unconventional. While Clark was invited to participate in the 14-player national team training camp held earlier this month — the last camp before Team USA’s roster drops — she was unable to attend due to it coinciding with Iowa’s trip to the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

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Judging by the immense talent spread throughout the league in what might be their most hyped season to date, competition for a piece of the Olympic pie could be fiercer than ever before.

"You always want to introduce new players into the pool whether it's for now or the future," said Rizzotti. "We stick to our principles of talent, obviously, positional fit, loyalty and experience. It's got to be a combination of an entire body of work. It's still not going to be fair to some people."

Of course, Clark isn’t the first rookie the committee has made exceptions for. Coming off an exceptional college season that saw her averaging 19.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4 assists per game for UConn, Breanna Stewart was tapped to represent the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil less than two weeks after being drafted No. 1 overall by the Seattle Storm. Eight years prior, fellow No. 1 pick Candace Parker punched her ticket to the 2008 Games in Beijing just two weeks after making her first appearance for the L.A. Sparks.

In the lead-up to Paris’ Opening Ceremony on July 26th, USA Basketball Women’s National Team is scheduled to play a pair of exhibition games. They'll first go up against the WNBA's finest at the July 20th WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix before facing Germany in London on July 23rd.

While an official roster announcement date hasn’t yet been issued, players won’t find out if they’ve made this year’s Olympic cut until at least June 1st.

For the first time in history, three different WNBA teams have completely sold out of season ticket plans well before the league's May 14th kick-off.

Call it the Caitlin Clark effect, attribute it to this year’s tenacious rookie class, or look to the skyrocketing visibility of veteran players across the board. But no matter the cause, facts are facts: Tickets to the 2024 WNBA season are selling like never before. 

On Monday, the Dallas Wings became the third team to sell out of season ticket memberships in the league’s 27-year history. The announcement from Arlington came shortly after the Atlanta Dream issued their own season ticket sell-out statement, also on Monday, and almost seven weeks after the back-to-back WNBA Champion Las Vegas Aces made headlines by becoming the first-ever WNBA team to sell out their season ticket allotment.   

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According to the Wings, season ticket memberships will fill nearly 40% of the 6,251 seats inside their home arena, College Park Center. The club also said that their overall ticket revenue has ballooned to the tune of 220% this year, spanning not just season tickets but also a 1,200% increase in single ticket sales. There’s currently a waitlist to become a Dallas season ticket holder, a status that comes with extra incentives like playoff presale access and discounts on additional single-game tickets. 

In Atlanta, season tickets aren't the only thing flying off the shelves. The Dream also announced that they broke their own record for single-game ticket sales during a recent limited presale campaign. Sunday was reportedly their most lucrative day, with five different games totally selling out Gateway Center Arena. Individual tickets for all upcoming matchups will hit the market this Thursday at 8 a.m., while a waitlist for season ticket memberships will open up next Tuesday at 10 a.m.

"Excitement around women's sports, particularly basketball, is at an all-time high and nowhere is that felt more than here in Atlanta," Dream president and COO Morgan Shaw Parker said in the team’s statement. "We’ve continued a record-setting growth trajectory over the past three years under new ownership — both on and off the court — and 2024 is shaping up to be our best season yet."

As of Tuesday, season ticket sales revenue for Caitlin Clark’s hotly anticipated Indiana Fever debut haven’t yet been announced by the club. But if these numbers are any indication — not to mention the explosive demand for Fever away games felt by teams around the country — it won’t be long before we see some scale-tipping figures coming out of Indianapolis.

25-year-old American pro golfer Nelly Korda secured her spot in LPGA history on Sunday, notching her fifth-straight title at this weekend's Chevron Championship in The Woodlands, Texas.

Ranked No. 1 in the world by Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, Korda joins Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sörenstam (2005) as just the third LPGA player to rack up five consecutive tour wins. She is also the third No. 1-ranked player to capture The Chevron Championship victory since the rankings debuted in 2006, accompanied by Lorena Ochoa and Lydia Ko.

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The Florida native shot three-under 69 in Sunday's final, besting Sweden's Maja Stark despite Stark's valiant come-from-behind attempt in the 18th. Korda finished with a four-day total of 13-under 275, celebrating her two-stroke win by cannonballing into Poppie's Pond, much to the crowd's delight. She left The Club at Carlton Woods with $1.2 million from an overall purse of $7.9 million.

It wasn't long ago that the two-time major champion's current winning streak seemed unimaginable. After maintaining her No. 1 position for 29 weeks, Korda underwent surgery to remove a blood clot from her left arm in 2022. She returned to the course not long after, but failed to win a single tournament in 2023 before seeing a surge in form during the first four months of 2024. As of today, she hasn't lost a tournament since January.

Korda will attempt a record sixth-straight win at next week's JM Eagle LA Championship at Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles, where she'll vie for a cut of the $3.75 million purse.