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On Thursday sports reporter Madeline Kenney sent out a tweet that, on the surface, didn't seem like a big deal. "Breanna Stewart plans to play for the USWNT in next year’s World Cup," she wrote, "and the 2028 Olympics in LA."
Stewart won gold medals for the American women's basketball team in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 Olympic Games, and she is only 30 years old — there's no reason to doubt that she will absolutely be a member of the 2028 Olympic Team.
More: Paige Bueckers respectfully shuts down 'media-driven' Caitlin Clark hype
But the message struck a nerve with WNBA fans on X, who had thoughts.
"USA wbb need to do what the USWNT did and politely open up competition for all spots. No spots guaranteed," wrote one person. "No one gets to just decide they’re playing in an Olympics 3.5 years away."
It's important to note that there is no indication that any spot on the Olympic roster is guaranteed — Stewart, like many elite athletes, was simply stating her goal and the belief that she can get there, and that belief is grounded in hard evidence (she's a 3-time Olympian and knows what it takes).
But a second person took things a step further and said UConn has something to do with it.
"If you played for UConn, then you are automatically on the team, even as a rookie," wrote someone by the username @MaxxZimonick. "UConn is the same reason Caitlin Clark wasn’t on the Olympic team. It was about UConn politics, just like it always is. Think it’s a coincidence that Sue Bird is now running things?"
Many Caitlin Clark fans were outraged when the then-rookie was not named to the U.S. Olympic Team. Clark was part of the WNBA All-Star Team that beat Team USA in 2024.
Only four women have made the Olympic team as WNBA rookies: Rebecca Lobo in 1996, Diana Taurasi in 2004, Candace Parker in 2008 and Breanna Stewart in 2016. Stewart, Lobo, and Taurasi graduated from UConn, and Parker graduated from the University of Tennessee.
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