The Laettner/Shaq thing was always curious to me. Reggie Miller simply wasn't good enough to be on the final 12 because they wanted to have one amateur on the squad as a nod to the college history of the Olympic teams. But probably should have been Shaq. You take away that college spot, then yeah-Reggie likely gets the nod. But they had enough good shooters. People can bitch and moan all they want about I. Thomas all they want, if he plays---Jordan doesn't. The team still wins Gold, but they lose the prestige and marketing of having the greatest NBA player if Jordan doesn't go onto the roster. Jordan says if Thomas plays, I don't. Plain and simple. Wasn't that tough of a call.
Now to draw a comparison to what's going on with this Women's Olympic squad. Think of Larry Bird. He's by far the oldest player on the team, obviously an NBA legend at the point. But he's got back problems, doesn't play that much in the build-up to the games, nor the games themselves. But they wanted him on there because he was a talented and proven veteran who had "earned it." Same shit happening with this Women's team. Field the best 12, great. We get it. But you simply make more money for the team for 2028 by putting marketable faces on the squad as well. Was anybody buying Larry Bird merch in 1993? No.