USA Women’s National Basketball Team 2024

August 22, 2024

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Do you know the first basketball players to ever win five Olympic gold medals? Here’s a tip. they are former college teammates, NCAA champions, best friends, and at one point in their careers, they were fierce rivals. But when they were next to each other in red, white and blue, they were magical. Have you figured out who it is yet? No, they are not men. Think again.

“Sue joined the national team at the 2002 World Cup and I joined in 2004. We were the little kids in Athens,” Diana Taurasi told USA Basketball. “It’s very special that we went through it together because we went through the same experiences at the same time.”

While Sue Bird retired from the game just two years ago, DT is still going out there making buckets and making names against any and all WNBA opponents as the League’s all-time leading scorer. He has been hailed as the GOAT, a name that not only encompasses his career thus far with the Phoenix Mercury, but also internationally; Over the past 23 years he has participated in USA Basketball, he has the largest collection of gold hardware besides Bird, including five Olympic golds, three FIBA World Cup golds and a FIBA World Cup bronze medal. It’s an honor he doesn’t take lightly, and in his own words, representing USA Basketball is a commitment he holds in the highest regard.

“I just think we take it really seriously,” Taurasi said The Athletic. “We’re not looking at it as a four-year thing. We look at it as a career.”

Taurasi is part of the glorious legacy that the USA Women’s National Basketball Team has always embodied. Since 1984, when the women’s team won their first Olympic gold medal, they have consistently assembled some of the most dominant and successful teams ever assembled. Never mind their last seven consecutive Olympic gold medals or the fact that the USA is already the favorite in Paris, currently ranked No. 1 in the 5×5 tournament and No. 2 in the 3×. 3 tournaments.

This year’s roster is full of champions, MVPs, All-Stars, Rookies of the Year and legends. DT will match other Olympic teammates and gold medalists including Chelsea Gray, Brittney Greiner, Jewel Lloyd, Nafisa Collier, Breanna Stewart and Aja Wilson, as well as Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young (both won gold in the 3 : ×3 tournaments in 2021). The roster also includes several standout players making their Olympic debuts: Alyssa Thomas, Kahlea Cooper and Sabrina Ionescu. Led by a coaching staff that represents some of the game’s brightest minds: head coach Sheryl Reeve, assistant coaches Kara Lawson, Joni Taylor, Mike Thibault, scouts Curt Miller and Tanisha Wright, the 2024 USA Women’s National Team is locked in and ready to launch. Three years ago in Tokyo, the U.S. swept the competition and beat Japan 90-75 to win the gold. DT was on that team as was Lloyd, BG, Chelsea, Stewie and A’ja. Now add Alyssa, Kahleah and Sab to the mix. That’s a whole team of bucket pickers.

How did all these stars come together? The obvious answer is a multi-year selection process that includes training camps and games. But, according to Taurasi, there is more to the list than the names on the list. It’s about chemistry, problem solving and bringing together a group of competitors who can and will deliver.

“As soon as you get to the second training camp, you can kind of see the Olympics from afar,” D.T. said. How? The sauce is ready. “Anyway, the training camp has become much more important. Trying to find groups that play well together, that solve problems together pretty quickly. I think the one thing I’ve learned from all these Olympics is the best combination of players who can get to a certain place pretty quickly.”

Players compete for a spot on the 12-man roster, which means putting egos aside and just showing you’ve got what it takes.

Taurasi elaborated. “You’ve got to put your best foot forward, that’s the only way you can make an impact by being here and embracing what we’re trying to do as a team. Every single person that’s ever put on that jersey has made that commitment, and I think that means a lot to the selection committee, to the coaches.”

The selection process is extremely competitive, and while there is an abundance of talent in the WNBA, Taurasi is spot on. As Jennifer Rizzotti, the chairman of the selection committee, told the Associated Press in April. “We’re committed to our principles of talent, obviously, positional fit, loyalty and experience. It has to be a combination of a whole lot of work.”

The final list is the epitome of just that. Aside from DT, Griner is one of the most experienced Olympians on the team. A two-time Olympic gold medalist, BG’s USA Basketball resume also includes being named Player of the Game in the 2018 World Cup Gold Medal Game and being named to the 2014 FIBA World Cup All-Tournament Team. A powerhouse in the paint and a shot-blocker, BG’s presence on the team will also bring a sense of resilience and strength that extends beyond the hardwood. Then there’s Gray, who was drafted into the WNBA just a year after Griner and has been a vocal leader. Is the three-time champion of the WNBA that A shout-out to the Las Vegas ace, even over head coach Becky Hammon. “I’m his assistant,” Hammon once told the media. “I tell them (Acers) all the time, if Chelsea are calling something and I’m calling something, you listen to Chelsea.”

When it comes to his game, Gray brings unparalleled versatility; he’s a scorer who can make shots, a playmaker with insane court vision, and a basketball savant with a high IQ who can read and motivate his teammates. Oh, and she knows how to perform under pressure, as the world saw when the Aces went back-to-back and won another WNBA championship last year. The scariest part is that Gray will match up with teammates he just won the chip with, including two-time MVP Wilson and All-Stars Young and Plum. If you think the Aces have slowed down at all since 2023, when they dominated, think again. Wilson’s star power only continued to rise to another level this season, and as we went to press, she set a WNBA record against the Dallas Wings as the first player to ever have at least 35 points, 10 rebounds and 5 steals. Which, by the way, is his 10th career game at least 30/10. He is also the first to score at least 35 points and 5 steals in multiple games. Wilson is competitive, fearless and true to herself and what she’s about, on and off the court. Hammon said it best. Wilson is “the best in the world”. As for KP and Young, both are lethal guards who know what it takes to hold their own on the international stage. Back in 2021, they both won gold medals in the US Olympic women’s 3×3 tournament. So yeah, good luck to the other countries who have to counter the main body of Aces.

The other most experienced Olympian is the reigning WNBA MVP. Stewie is a certified winner, so much so that she is just one of 11 players to have won an Olympic gold medal, a FIBA World Cup gold medal, a WNBA title, and an NCAA title so far in her career (Griner and D.T. being one on that list). part). Stewie has been showing USA basketball since high school. In 2011, he was the youngest member and only high school athlete to be an All-American, where he started all four games and led the team in scoring (15.3 ppg), rebounds. (11.3) and blocks (1.1). Poised and poised for greatness from the start, Stewart is coming off a WNBA career high in scoring last season (23.0 ppg) and the momentum to help lead the New York Liberty to the WNBA Finals for the first time since ’02. With the same players it faced in the Finals, Team USA should be a scary sight for opponents this summer.

The rest of the roster is stacked with scorers and playmakers. Nafisa Collier was part of the gold medal winning team at the 2020 Olympics and has only raised her game since then. Phee is now dominating the Lynx and averaging a double-double (second career-best 20.0 points and career-high 10.2 rebounds). Then there’s Lloyd, who led the league in scoring last season with 24.7 points and is an Olympian. and: Three-time FIBA World Cup/3×3 Gold Medalist. Another member of the 2022 FIBA World Cup squad is Thomas, a consistent and insanely efficient walk-on triple-double who will be making his Olympic debut. She is also the first former Maryland Terrapin to play for the US Women’s National Team since Vicky Bullet, who won gold in ’88 and bronze in ’92.

AT brings a decade of WNBA experience and veteran leadership, and she will fit right in with her U.S. Olympic teammates. Then there’s Kaleah Capper, who brings a dynamic scoring prowess and a tough Philly mentality that make her a credential. After winning a “chip” with the Chicago Sky in 2021, he also raised his game. The three-time WNBA All-Star, who has dropped 30-plus point games on any given night this season, will bring that same energy to the international stage in her first Olympics as well.

Last but certainly not least is Sabrina Ionescu. It doesn’t matter if he’s going up against the W’s or the best shooter of all time, Saab, with his single furrow in his brow and absence from the three-point line, is guaranteed to shoot the lights out in the gym. no matter what gym it is. Oh, and him too With a career-high average this year, his fourth season with the New York Liberty. Experience is one thing, but gameplay always speaks for itself.

And there you have it. If they win it all, the 2024 US Women’s National Team will make history by bringing home an eighth straight gold medal and a successful 10th overall. Legends of the past have inspired greatness, but this team has what it takes to carry on that legacy and more.