US women's basketball future looks bright, but the rest of the world is closing the talent gap

PARIS (AP) — U.S. women’s basketball players have been saying for years that winning in the Olympics isn't easy and France showed at the Paris Games that their comments are more than just rhetoric to keep fans interested.

The rest of the world is catching up to the U.S., though Olympic gold should continue to run through America.

The future for USA Basketball looks bright with A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart in their prime. Then there also is a extremely talented young group of players who say they want to be in the pipeline, led by Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers and Juju Watkins.

They could help anchor the national team, which is in a bit of a transition with the retirement of Diana Taurasi, who finished her career with a record six gold medals.

The Americans captured their record eighth Olympic gold medal Sunday by the narrowest of margins with a 67-66 victory over France. The U.S. won its six games in the tournament by an average of 15.7 points — the lowest during its streak.

“The parity of women’s basketball is just only continuing to grow,” Stewart said. “So I think, you know, we know it’s not easy.”

France became the first team to come within a hair of beating the U.S in the Olympics during its record 61-game winning streak that dates back to the 1992 Barcelona Games. Only two other teams had come within single digits of the Americans in those 32 years.

“Maybe they won’t say it’s just easy and we walk in and just win gold,” said U.S. center Brittney Griner. who broke down in tears when she was presented her third gold medal. “Maybe they’ll stop saying that, because, like I said, we see everybody’s best shot. And we saw the shot that France gave us.”

The U.S. will get homecourt during the 2028 Olympics, which will be held in Los Angeles. The Americans had played the last two gold medal games against teams from the host nation.

Griner said “we'll see” when asked if she'll be playing in the Los Angeles Games.

Even if she doesn't decide to play — she'll be 37 at that point— the U.S. should return its top two stars Stewart and Wilson, who are only 29 and 28 years old respectively.

The pair could potentially play in a few more Olympics. With the exception of Taurasi, no one on this year’s Olympic team would be older than 37 by the time the 2028 Olympics happen.

“I think being able to learn from a lot of the veteran players here, knowing it’s kind of my time and a lot of our times that, this younger generation is able to kind of take this legacy and continue to push forward and go for nine,” said Sabrina Ionescu, who earned her first Olympic gold medal. “This is a program that has always sort of made it look easy. But I always said it’s not.”

The major question potentially is who will be coaching the team in Los Angeles.

Cheryl Reeve could come back to coach the team, although it's extremely rare that a coach does a second stint. Only Geno Auriemma, who coached in 2012 and 2016, has done that.

If the U.S. goes another direction, there's a few potential candidates. Assistant Kara Lawson, who won gold as a player in 2008 and also guided the inaugural 3x3 U.S. team in 2021 to first place could be on the list. A trio of WNBA coaches have experience with USA Basketball: Curt Miller, Stephanie White and Tanisha Wright also could be considered.

A dark horse could be Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon. She hasn't been involved with USA Basketball at all yet and played for Russia in the 2008 Olympics. Yet no WNBA coach has been more successful the last few years than Hammon, who has led the Aces to back-to-back WNBA championships.

With the Aces' core of Wilson, Kelsey Plum, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young potentially back in 2028, Hammon would certainly have their endorsement.

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games