Guys, we really need to talk about this. Caitlin Clark just made probably the funniest All-Star picks ever. She literally picked only her friends, making sure there were no “ops” — meaning rivals or people who dislike her — on her team. If she’s ever played with someone before, like Sonia Citron, she picked them. Gabby Williams too. She absolutely did not pick anyone who’s ever tweeted something negative or said anything bad about her in the media. None of her rivals made the cut, except A’ja Wilson. Like Kane Swift’s meme says: “Team Caitlin — no ops allowed, except A’ja.” Because let’s be real — who in their right mind wouldn’t pick A’ja Wilson? She’s just that good.
Nneka Ogwumike might technically be considered an “op,” but Caitlin still has people like Satou Sabally, who’s been super pro-Caitlin Clark and pro-Fever fans. Sonia Citron, Kiki Fenn… I’m not sure what kind of relationship Caitlin has with Kiki, but honestly, I can’t believe the team Caitlin Clark put together. It’s hilarious.
And it doesn’t stop there — Caitlin even traded her coach. Originally, she was supposed to play under Cheryl Reeve, who’s the USA National Team coach and someone who’s said plenty of negative stuff about Clark on social media, got criticized in Christine Brennan’s book, then deleted a bunch of tweets and claimed they never existed. Now she’s accusing Christine Brennan of lying. And look, I’d totally believe Christine Brennan might have exaggerated some things. But at the end of the day, the truth is the truth — even slightly exaggerated truth is still not a complete lie.
So now, Caitlin Clark’s team includes three players from the Fever. But seriously, I can’t get over the fact that she actually traded her coach because she didn’t want to work with an “op.” I’m not saying that’s good or bad — it’s just the reality. She didn’t pick anyone who’s ever publicly trashed her. Not a single one.
Of course, A’ja Wilson still made the team, because let’s be honest: nobody’s leaving A’ja Wilson off the roster. Clark also picked her teammate Sabrina Ionescu — pretty much the one veteran star in the WNBA who was actually close with Caitlin during her rookie year. Honestly, the best thing that ever happened to Sabrina was Caitlin Clark showing up. Because ever since Clark arrived, people stopped hating on Sabrina and redirected all the heat toward Caitlin instead. Sabrina used to be the internet’s punching bag before Caitlin came along.
Satou Sabally has been very pro-Fever, pro-new fans, partly because, let’s be real, Satou wants her money. As for A’ja Wilson, ever since that whole controversy, she hasn’t said much, and Caitlin’s smart enough not to pass on her. Coming off the bench, there’s Kelsey Mitchell (her Fever teammate), Gabby Williams — who’s never said a bad word about Caitlin — Sonia Citron, who’s played with Caitlin on Team USA and won titles, and Jackie Young — whom I desperately hope comes to Indiana in free agency next year. Unfortunately, right now A’ja Wilson seems to be dealing with an injury. The whole team is crowded around her looking worried. If A’ja’s out, Team Caitlin Clark is basically going to be running on pure vibes.
My absolute favorite part of all this is that Caitlin Clark actually traded her coach. She was basically like, “You know what? I don’t want to play for Cheryl Reeve. Let’s trade the coach.” Caitlin even said she didn’t care whether it was against the rules. And honestly, I don’t think they really cared either. I’d guess Cheryl Reeve didn’t want to coach Caitlin, and Aliyah Boston probably wanted to play for Reeve, while Caitlin definitely didn’t. Instead, she was fine playing for Sandy Brondello, which is kind of surprising. Because technically, based on current records, the All-Star coach would have been Nate Tibbetts from the Mercury. Personally, I’d love for Caitlin Clark to play for Nate Tibbetts. He’d be the kind of coach to say, “If you guys don’t shoot ten threes a quarter, or a three every time you’re open, you’re getting subbed out.” That would be absolute chaos — and honestly, I’d love to see it.
All in all, the team Caitlin Clark picked is absolutely wild and hilarious. And the fact that she traded her coach is hands-down my favorite part of the whole thing.
Oh, and we can’t forget about Fee Collier. Fee once called Angel Reese “Me-bound,” and Caitlin Clark went completely stone-faced. Andrea Carter, who was hosting, was laughing, and Caitlin was just frozen, like, “Why did you say Me-bound? Now I’m going to get blamed for this.” Even though, to be fair, Angel Reese has done an awesome job reclaiming the word “Me-bound.” She’s playing well enough right now that she’s successfully turned it into something positive, and I really respect that. I have a lot of respect for anyone who can reclaim a negative label and flip it like that.
Anyway, A’ja Wilson seems fine now — she’s back up shooting her free throws. So the All-Star game should be interesting. And hey, at least Team Caitlin Clark is probably going to let it fly from three, right?
