Natasha Cloud 'flabbergasted' over Team USA coach’s choice to bench Kahleah Copper vs Belgium

The Phoenix Mercury’s Kahleah Copper didn’t feature in Team USA’s second 2024 Paris Olympics game against Belgium on Thursday. The decision by coach Cheryl Reeve to not play her definitely rubbed Mercury teammate Natasha Cloud the wrong way, as she made her displeasure known on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Cloud sent out a series of tweets regarding the benching. She first tweeted:

“2nd leading scorer in the W…..”

Just a couple of minutes later, she took to X again, writing:

“Truly just flabbergasted.”

Natasha Cloud’s reaction was understandable as Kahleah Copper is one of the best scorers in the game. As already explained by Cloud in the tweet, Copper is the second-leading scorer in the 2024 WNBA season, in terms of both points and average. The 2021 Finals MVP is averaging 23.3 points in 24 games. She has a total of 580 points.

Copper trails just A’ja Wilson in both categories, who has 653 points and averages 27.2 points per game.

Despite Copper’s benching, though, Team USA marched to a 87-74 win. This shows that when a coach such as Cheryl Reeve is leading a team as talented as the U.S., some tough roster decisions are going to be made.

Copper's absence doesn't mean she won't see playing time in the future games as well. She played against Japan on Monday and scored four points. She should see some playing time against Germany on Sunday as well.

Despite Kahleah Copper's absence, Team USA gets easy win vs. Belgium

Even though fans must have missed seeing Kahleah Copper play on Thursday, the team definitely made sure they made up for her absence buy getting a dominating win against Belgium.

The win extended Team USA's Olympic winning streak to 57 games. As the team continues its quest for an unprecedented eighth straight gold in the Olympics, it now finds itself atop Group C. The Americans previously dominated Japan 102-76 in their opening game on Monday.

Team USA was led by Breanna Stewart and A'ja Wilson. Stewart finished the game with 26 points, seven rebounds and four assists. She shot 57.1% from the floor, including 90.0% from the free-throw line.

Wilson had a terrific game as well, as she finished her evening with 23 points, 13 rebounds, two asissts and three steals.