Kara Lawson to Coach USA Women’s Basketball Team
Kara Lawson, Duke coach, has been named the next coach of the United States women’s basketball team. Lawson, who was an assistant coach on the 2024 gold medal-winning national team and a gold medalist as a player in 2008, will lead the United States in all major competitions leading up to the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.Lawson takes over from Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, who guided the women to their eighth consecutive gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics. While the United States’ dominance internationally is unparalleled, having won 60 consecutive Olympic matches, Lawson knows firsthand how close the rest of the world is to closing the gap. Lawson was an assistant on Reeve’s team when the United States defeated France by the narrowest margin, 67-66, in the gold medal match in Paris, when Gabby Williams stepped on the 3-point line while scoring what would have been a three-pointer to tie at the end of regulation.Winning a gold medal as a player was incredible, and one of the first goals I set for myself when I was young. I think that’s what drives you because you know how great it feels and you want the players you coach to experience that. You have this permanent memory in your sport and the goal is to try to help them create it for themselves in the different world events.
Kara Lawson
Lawson coached several of those younger players as part of USA Basketball’s 3-on-3 programs at both the high school level and when it debuted as an Olympic sport at the Tokyo 2021 Summer Games. Some of the young players she worked with then include Paige Bueckers of the Dallas Wings, Aliyah Boston of Indiana, Rickea Jackson of the Los Angeles Sparks and Kelsey Plum, Allisha Gray of the Atlanta Dream, and Jackie Young of the Las Vegas Aces.The international game has never been more competitive on the women’s side. And I think the roster for the United States women has always been the most competitive roster to make. I would say that in any sport, it’s the hardest roster to make. But this could be the hardest roster of the hardest ones to make. Because there are many good veterans who have won a lot for our country. And there is an incredible group of young players who are already competing at this level.
Kara Lawson
Lawson was chosen for this position by Sue Bird, Olympic gold medalist and Hall of Famer, who was named general manager of the USA women’s national basketball team in May. In this new role, Bird is responsible for choosing both the coaching staff and the players for international tournaments. For most of their lives, Bird and Lawson were friendly rivals. First as standout guards growing up in the Northeast, then at UConn and Tennessee, then in the WNBA with Seattle and Sacramento, and finally as teammates on the 2008 Olympic team.There’s nothing like the pressure of big competition, and I love the fact that I have the experience, the Olympic experience of a gold medal game and a semifinal game and the pressure of being the overwhelming favorite and having to come through. Having gone through that as a player, as a 3-on-3 coach and as an assistant last year in Paris, I think every time you get reps at the highest level, it’s valuable.
Kara Lawson
We’ve known each other since we were 9 years old. And we’ve always had mutual respect.
Kara Lawson
