The 2024 USA Basketball Women's Olympic roster has been announced and it's a mix of young players and veterans who will make the trip to Paris this summer.
While most of the talk about the roster has centered around Caitlin Clark not making the team, no one would argue that there aren't 12 deserving players headed to France to represent Team USA. Seven players are returning from the 2020 team that won gold in Tokyo.
Diana Taurasi, 42, will play in her sixth Olympic games, a feat that has only been accomplished by 211 people in the history of the world. Taurasi first represented Team USA on the 2004 team when Clark was 2 years old. She'll be joined by her Phoenix Mercury teammates Kahleah Cooper and Brittney Griner. Cooper will be making her Olympic debut while Griner made the team in 2016 and 2020.
The Mercury aren't the only team with multiple players on Team USA. The New York Liberty are sending Breanna Stewart, the reigning WNBA MVP who will be making her third consecutive team, and Sabrina Ionescu, who will be making her Olympic debut.
The Las Vegas Aces are sending four players including Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum, A'ja Wilson and Jackie Young. Gray and Wilson were on the 2020 squad while Young represented Team USA in the 3x3 competition in Tokyo.
Here's the full roster.
Name
Position
Team
Napheesa Collier
Forward
Minnesota Lynx
Kahleah Cooper
Guard / Forward
Phoenix Mercury
Chelsea Gray
Guard
Las Vegas Aces
Brittney Griner
Center
Phoenix Mercury
Sabrina Ionescu
Guard
New York Liberty
Jewell Loyd
Guard
Seattle Storm
Kelsey Plum
Guard
Las Vegas Aces
Breanna Stewart
Forward
New York Liberty
Diana Taurasi
Guard
Phoenix Mercury
Alyssa Thomas
Forward
Connecticut Sun
A'ja Wilson
Forward / Center
Las Vegas Aces
Jackie Young
Guard / Forward
Las Vegas Aces
Clark was left off the final roster in favor of more accomplished WNBA players. While Clark handled the decision with class, it has still caused people to lose their minds, as have most things involving Clark recently.
Despite struggling from the field early in her professional career, she's 14th in the WNBA in scoring at 16.8 points per game, which is right around where Taurasi and Ionescu are. She's also fourth in assists, 18th in steals and 24th in rebounding
There was a case to be made for Clark to be on the roster, but Team USA went another direction. Now there are only four years to debate whether she belongs on the roster for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. In theory, Diana Taurasi's roster spot will be open by then.
The women's Olympic basketball tournament begins on Sunday, July 28 with Team USA playing their first Group C game against Japan on Monday, July 29 at 3pm EST. They're scheduled to take on Belgium on Thursday, August 1st at 3pm EST and will finish group play on August 4 at 1:15pm EST against Germany.
The Women's quarterfinals are on Wednesday, August 7, the semifinals are on Friday, August 9 and the gold and bronze meal games will be played on Sunday August 11, the last day of the Games. Team USA is going for their eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal.
STEPHEN DOUGLAS
Stephen Douglas is a Senior Writer on the Breaking & Trending News Team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in journalism and media since 2008, and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Stephen spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and has previously written for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.
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