‘You prepare so long for this’ Mercury’s Kahleah Copper gets emotional about Olympics

Emotions started to pour as Kahleah Copper recalled her career and its ups and downs. From wondering when she’d get playing time in her early days in the WNBA to now being a first-time Olympian for the upcoming Paris Olympics, there’s a lot that happened between then.

“This is definitely No. 1,” Copper said. “People see this, people see game-winners, but y’all don’t see what it takes. How many nights. You prepare so long for this, but for it to happen to me in year nine, it’s so special.”

For the last three years, Copper had her 2021 season where she finished as the Finals MVP with the Chicago Sky as her top moment in basketball. During that season, Copper earned her first tryout for the team heading to the Tokyo Olympics but was among the cuts.

That devastation left her with a chance to prove herself in the WNBA. It also helped solidify her as a name the U.S. could not leave off come 2024.

“Being able to get Finals MVP playing with greats, it could’ve went any other way,” Copper said. “That season was so special because I felt so let down by not making that team. For me to turn around and win a championship and then playing with future Hall of Famers and to get Finals MVP, nobody in the beginning of the season would’ve said it was going to be me. That was my No. 1 for a while.”

Copper made her name known on the national team in 2022 when she won a gold medal at the FIBA World Cup. Her chances became better when she participated in the 2024 FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgium in February.

Since joining the Mercury this season, Copper has made herself an early MVP candidate, averaging 24.0 points and 2.9 made threes per game, which both rank third in the league.

“I got to know Kah even more now as her teammate and playing with her. She’s an amazing person,” Mercury center Brittney Griner said. “She really rallies for you on and off the court. She’s going to give you 100 no matter what. She’s going to show up and work hard, and that just goes to her character and who she is. I’m just super excited for her and for it to be her first one. I get to go with two of my teammates to Team USA.”

On one of the hardest rosters to crack, the Mercury will have three of the 12 members on Team USA, including Diana Taurasi and Griner. The Paris Olympics will run from July 26 to August 11, 2024.

The U.S. is seeking its eighth straight, and 10th overall, Olympic gold medal in Paris. This Olympics marks the second consecutive Summer Games that the Mercury has featured three players on Team USA (Taurasi, Griner, and Skylar Diggins-Smith).

Although the team is older, with guards Jackie Young (Las Vegas Aces) and Sabrina Ionescu (New York Liberty) the youngest players at 26, Taurasi and Griner are two of three players with multiple gold medals as Taurasi has five, and Griner has two.

The women’s national team also includes Napheesa Collier (Minnesota Lynx), Chelsea Gray (Las Vegas Aces), Jewell Loyd (Seattle Storm), Kelsey Plum (Las Vegas Aces), Breanna Stewart (New York Liberty), Alyssa Thomas (Connecticut Sun), and A’ja Wilson (Las Vegas Aces).

Basketball in Phoenix as a whole will be represented in the Olympics as Suns guard Devin Booker and forward Kevin Durant will be on the USA Basketball Men’s National Team. This marks the first time one city’s NBA and WNBA teams have combined for at least five players named to the USA Basketball national teams at a single Olympic Games.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mercury’s Kahleah Copper gets emotional about first Olympics