USA Basketball announces star-studded women’s roster for Paris Olympics

USA Basketball announces star-studded women’s roster for Paris Olympics originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The U.S. women’s basketball team will begin its chase for an eighth straight Olympic gold medal in Paris this summer, and it will do so with another loaded roster.

A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart and Diana Taurasi are among the 12 players who will rep the red, white and blue at the Paris Games. Here is the full roster as announced by Team USA on Tuesday:

• Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx

• Kahleah Copper, Phoenix Mercury

• Chelsea Gray, Las Vegas Aces

• Brittney Griner, Phoenix Mercury

• Sabrina Ionescu, New York Liberty

• Jewell Loyd, Seattle Storm

• Kelsey Plum, Las Vegas Aces

• Breanna Stewart, New York Liberty

• Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut Sun

• Diana Taurasi, Phoenix Mercury

• A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces

• Jackie Young, Las Vegas Aces

Collier, Gray, Griner, Loyd, Stewart, Taurasi and Wilson were all members of the Team USA squad that won gold at the 2020 Tokyo Games. Plum and Young were also gold medalists in Paris as part of the inaugural 3×3 event in Tokyo. Copper, Ionescu and Thomas will make their Olympic debuts this summer.

Taurasi will look to become the first basketball player in history to win six Olympic gold medals. The Phoenix Mercury star has helped Team USA win it all in each of the past five Games and can break a tie with former American teammate Sue Bird for the most golds for any Olympic basketball player.

The WNBA’s top two teams for last season are well-represented on Team USA. Wilson, Gray, Plum and Young all play for the two-time-reigning WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces. Stewart and Ionescu, meanwhile, powered the New York Liberty to the WNBA Finals in 2023.

WNBA’s imprint on Team USA is even greater when it comes to No. 1 picks. There are eight No. 1 picks for the U.S. this summer: Taurasi (2004), Griner (2013), Loyd (2015), Stewart (2016), Plum (2017), Wilson (2018), Young (2019) and Ionescu (2020).

One notable name that is not on the roster is Caitlin Clark. The NCAA’s all-time leading scorer went to the Indiana Fever with the No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft and has taken the league by storm, but she did not crack the 12-player U.S. squad for Paris.

Team USA will open its Paris Olympic quest on July 29 against Japan in a rematch of the 2020 gold medal game. It will continue Group C play against Belgium on Aug. 1 and wrap up the group stage against Germany on Aug. 4.