Veronica Burton followed up an outstanding WNBA season with the Valkyries with an eventful offseason. She just finished competing in the 3x3 AmeriCup, securing a gold medal alongside Allisha Gray, Naz Hillmon, and Shakira Austin. In January, she will also make her Unrivaled debut. Before that, Burton will also participate in a Team USA training camp in Durham, North Carolina.
Burton is one of a few players who are in the Team USA 5-on-5 and 3x3 pools. Given how much talent there is for the 5-on-5 team, 3x3 basketball may very well be the key to a trip to the Olympics in 2028 for Burton. Countries can only send players with substantial 3x3 experience to the Olympics, and Burton qualifies for that. Meanwhile, she may not be able to separate herself from other guards in the 5-on-5 pool.
Burton may not make the 5-on-5 roster but played well for the 3x3 team
Team USA is already preparing for the 2026 FIBA World Cup, which will lay the foundation for the 2028 Olympics, and announced its roster for a training camp in Durham this month. The roster features some familiar faces, like Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young, and Kelsey Plum, but also exciting new talent headlined by Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese, and Cameron Brink. Veronica Burton is also a newcomer to the five-on-five pool.
The training camp roster for the 5-on-5 team is stacked with veterans and young talent. However, not all of the players who will participate in the training camp this month will be on the final team. Some big names were suspiciously absent from the training camp roster, mostly because they won’t have to try out if they want to be on the team. A’ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier, Sabrina Ionescu, and Breanna Stewart, for example, won’t take part in this first training camp, but should have spots on the roster for the World Cup and the Olympics alike if they would like them.
On the December 2 episode of No Offseason, The Athletic’s Sabreena Merchant noted that the players on the training camp roster are realistically only competing for six to eight spots.
Considering the star power at the guard spots, Burton may be one of the players left off the roster. Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum, and Jackie Young are part of the training camp roster and also played for Team USA at the Paris Olympics, giving them an advantage over a newcomer like Burton. Moreover, Ionescu should be a mainstay on Team USA for years to come, and Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers should both make the roster as the next generation of star guards.
So, barring some injuries, Burton may not be able to separate herself in the 5-on-5 pool, even if the World Cup roster may not be the same as the Olympics roster. When it comes to 3x3, however, Burton has experience and a successful AmeriCup outing to increase her chances of making an Olympic roster. Burton totalled 23 points over five games and shot 45% from long range.