Wings' Arike Ogunbowale - 'Politics' involved in Olympics selection - ESPN

Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale told the «Nightcap» podcast in an episode released Thursday that she took her name out of the pool for the U.S. women's basketball Olympic team «months ago» and that she thinks «politics» goes into the selection of the squad.

The 12-member 5-on-5 women's U.S. team for the Paris Games was announced Tuesday. The players most talked about who didn't make it were Indiana rookie guard Caitlin Clark and Ogunbowale, who has been one of the top scorers in the league during her six WNBA seasons, all with Dallas.

«Me being me, I just felt the vibes,» Ogunbowale said of how she thought she was being assessed by USA Basketball. «When it comes to that stuff, it really doesn't have much to do with your game. It's really about who they feel like fits with the team. That's on the men's side, too.

»The committees say they look for people who… I don't know, honestly. But I could already tell. I actually took my name out of the pool months ago. With the pool, it's a big commitment. If I know they're not picking me, I'm not going to keep going to these [camps] when I know the vibe. I'm not going to give you my time if I know the vibe."

Speaking to podcast hosts Shannon Sharpe and Chad «Ochocinco» Johnson, Ogunbowale said there's so much talent in the WNBA that several players could be Olympians.

«It's subjective who they think should be on the team; everybody's great in the WNBA,» she said. «So who they choose is who they choose, I can't really control that.»

The guard position has a lot of depth on this Olympic team. It's led by six-time Olympian Diana Taurasi of Phoenix and two-time Olympians Jewell Loyd (Seattle), Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum (all with Las Vegas). The other guard on the