USA Basketball is debuting a senior roster this week at the FIBA World Cup that includes several players who have never competed for the country at this level. That's a very exciting feat, especially since the United States has won the gold medal at the last 8 Olympic Games and the last 9 World Cup tournaments. Team USA's dominance isn't being questioned, and the roster the team sent to Berlin this year is incredibly talented.
But USA's head coach Kara Lawson pointed out an important detail: the rest of the world is good, too.
That's something we saw during the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, when the Americans just barely edged out France for the gold medal. It's something that's becoming increasingly obvious in the WNBA, which boasts dozens of international players across the league. And it's about to be something that's going to be clear during this year's World Cup.
In an interview with Yahoo! Sports this week, Lawson pointed out that international tournaments like the World Cup bring out "the best teams" and boast "a tough schedule." She also pointed out a fact that every team knows: "[A]t the end of the day, every team's job is to try and win this." That's something the Americans want to do, but it's also something that every other team wants to do, too.
Lawson said that for Team USA, the focus is on locking in and learning to play together, something that's a bit of a challenge since the tournament takes place during the WNBA season, and all the players have been operating under their respective team's basketball system for months. But it's also completely doable, and this year's talented roster will know how to navigate any challenges they're met with.
"We don't want to waste time forgetting things or not having things down that already been taught because (of the) short leadup," Lawson pointed out. Most of the team arrived in Berlin over the weekend, and they held their first practice Tuesday. Team USA players their first game in the World Cup on Friday, September 4, when they meet China. That game will begin at 8:15 a.m. EST, and will air on TNT and TruTV (it will also stream on HBO Max).
Team USA might be missing A'ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum, two athletes who have become nearly synonymous with achieving international accolades and winning gold medals, but they have the tools they need to continue the country's tradition of winning.
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