Aug. 19, 2026, 7:02 a.m. ET
As USA Basketball decisionmakers like girls’s managing director Sue Bird and head coach Kara Lawson labored to create the roster that will represent the Stars-and-Stripes subsequent month in Germany at the 2026 FIBA World Cup, they knew they wanted just a few particular issues.
Of course, they needed to have the impactful MVP-level play of A’ja Wilson, the effectivity and flexibility of Napheesa Collier, the expertise of Breanna Stewart, the highlight-worthy guard abilities introduced by Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark, and the veteran management of Chelsea Gray.
“Chelsea brings a lot to the table for our group. Just her confidence, her ability in big moments to play really well. Her intelligence is something that I think everyone leans on, how she sees the game,” Lawson advised reporters this week. “She’s a great leader for the group.”
But as Lawson has studied the worldwide sport and the foundations of FIBA — having been on-board with Team USA in various capacities for almost three a long time now — she additionally knew she would want toughness, a participant who wouldn’t shrink back from contact and wouldn’t again down from a battle.
After watching her over the previous a number of months, Lawson knew this workforce wanted Angel Reese.
“She plays with an aggression and a physicality, which I think is really important in FIBA play because there’s a little more aggression and physicality that’s typically allowed relative to the WNBA,” Lawson mentioned of the Atlanta Dream ahead. “You need to have players that embrace that. I think she’s definitely one of the players on the roster that embraces that.”
Along with Clark, Bueckers, Rhyne Howard and Aliyah Boston, this FIBA World Cup would be the first time Reese has featured for the senior U.S. nationwide workforce in a significant match. For Reese, her World Cup debut comes at a time when she’s having fun with the very best season of her three-year profession within the WNBA thus far.
Traded from the Chicago Sky to the Dream this previous offseason, Reese made her third All-Star workforce and is averaging a career-high 15.6 factors per sport on an Atlanta workforce on-track to make the playoffs. She additionally leads the WNBA in rebounding this season with 12.1 per sport, is sixth in steals per sport (1.7), third in defensive win shares (2.1) and eighth in defensive ranking (98.6).
On Tuesday evening, within the Dream’s first win in Las Vegas since 2024, Reese stuffed the stat sheet with 21 factors, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.
Lawson mentioned she hadn’t met Reese till she held her first camp as Team USA’s head coach again in December 2025 on the campus of Duke University where she’s the Blue Devils head coach. Both Lawson and Reese hail from the DMV, with Reese rising up in Baltimore, Maryland, and Lawson in northern Virginia.
“We connected pretty early. We’ve got a lot in common and she’s an incredible competitor. I just enjoy how she raises the level of a practice or a game with her presence and with her intensity,” Lawson mentioned. “She’s very effective on both ends. And you know, obviously, the statistical category that stands out about her is her rebounding. Her ability to dominate on the glass is something that’s really valuable, to be able to limit teams to one shot.”
Lawson has since been capable of watch Reese all season lengthy as she’s been an analyst for WNBA video games on Amazon Prime.
However, the workforce Lawson has lined probably the most whereas doing that gig is Clark’s Indiana Fever. Lawson mentioned she’s seen Clark make some strides on the defensive aspect of the ground from when she first had her in Team USA camp at Duke.
“I think she’s improved in every area. She’s playing really well at this time, as is their whole team,” Lawson mentioned of Clark and the Fever. “I’ve been up-close to see their growth. And yeah, she plays at a high level. She’s doing that now and she’s continuing to look better and better.”
Clark leads the WNBA in assists this season with 8.3 per sport and is fourth in scoring with 22.1 factors per sport.
Team USA begins group stage play at the World Cup on Sept. 4, opening with a sport towards China. The WNBA season will take a pause whereas the World Cup is performed in Berlin, Germany. The gold medal sport is about for Sept. 13 and WNBA video games will resume on Sept. 17.
Lawson will coach Team USA by means of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The final time the Summer Games have been held in Los Angeles, Lawson’s school coach — the late Pat Summitt of Tennessee — led the Americans to their first gold medal.
As a participant, Lawson helped the Americans win a gold medal at the 2008 Olympics. She then coached the Team USA 3×3 squad to a gold medal within the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo and was an assistant below Cheryl Reeve with the 5×5 workforce that gained the Olympics in 2024 in Paris.
“It’s, in my opinion, the No. 1 job in the sport, to be the national team head coach for your own country,” Lawson mentioned. “I mean, think about that. Like, you grow up in a country, you play the sport, you play on the national team, and you’re assistant coach for the national team, and you get an opportunity to be the head coach. There’s not anything better than that. So, how it feels is amazing, and I’m just excited about the opportunity.”