Why the dawn of a new day for Team USA couldn’t come at a better time

2025 was a year defined by pivotal periods in women’s basketball.

The most obvious of which is the ongoing struggle for a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), where WNBA players are advocating for their fair share of league revenue at time of tremendous growth and popularity for the sport.

Whatever happens on that front remains to be seen. But one thing that 2026 promises is the introduction of a new era for the USA Basketball Women’s National Team.

In mid-December, the cream of the crop gathered on the campus of Duke University to take part in a weekend-long training camp, providing a glimpse into what is to come for Team USA. Under the guidance of Team USA head coach (and Duke head coach) Kara Lawson, Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers, Aliyah Boston, Kiki Iriafen and JuJu Watkins (who was present but not a participant) got their chance to showcase their respective talents as the team looks towards the future.

Already, Team USA is in the midst of a dynastic run. Since the historic 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, they have won every gold medal, with the latest, their eighth-straight in Paris 2024. They’ve also been unbeaten in other international tournaments since 2006.

Fittingly, the emergence of the new Team USA comes during the same year that will mark the 50^th anniversary of the 1976 team that won the silver medal in Montreal in the inaugural Olympics for women’s basketball. That team featured future legends such as Pat Summit, Nancy Lieberman and Lusia Harris.

Twenty years later, the 1996 team went 60-0 on an exhibition tour that culminated in them winning the gold medal in Atlanta. That team, featuring Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie, Rebecca Lobo, Ruthie Bolton and Dawn Staley, was the catalyst for the WNBA to launch the following season. Recently, the 1996 team was nominated for induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Today’s players fully recognize the magnitude of donning the red, white and blue, given the backdrop of such historical achievements. Reese reflected on the honor, sharing during the training camp media availability:

It’s like the young crew coming in, I think you have to give, you must give honors to the players that played before and are continuing to play. I’ve watched [managing director] Sue (Bird) and I’ve watched [head coach] Kara (Lawson) when they were part of the USA team and being able to walk in their footsteps. I think it’s something that you don’t take for granted.

So I’m really excited to be here. I haven’t done USA since I was in college and then to be back here to potentially be on the senior team is really, really important to me. I’ve dreamed of playing for the Olympics and especially for LA because I represent, I want to represent this country well. So I’m really excited to be here and I’m really enjoying this moment.

The likes of Reese, Clark and Bueckers already have experience playing with Team USA. In 2023, Reese won a silver medal at the FIBA AmeriCup. Clark has played for multiple junior national teams (U16, U19). She also won gold medals at the FIBA U19 World Cup (2019, 2021). Bueckers has played and won gold medals for the U16 and U19 teams and played in 3-on-3 tournaments. In 2019, she was named USA Basketball Player of the Year.

Iriafen saw this moment also as a passing of the baton, suggesting:

We will still have the vets that established what USA looks like. They’ll still be around. I don’t know what that capacity looks like, but I think for us young girls, we understand that it’s tough, representing the USA comes with a lot. The level of competition around has just improved and gotten better.

So I would say from today, I’m just taking away that everything matters, diving for a lose ball, talking, getting a rebound, it’s not always about scoring. I think I have really just seen that here. So it takes a lot to be the best and I don’t know what that looks like in the future for LA Olympics, but I would say us young girls understand what it takes to play at this level.

From September 4 to 13, Team USA will compete in the 2026 FIBA World Cup in Berlin, Germany. In 2028, Los Angeles will play host to the Summer Olympics. It will be the first time the Olympics will be on American soil since the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, and the first Summer Games since Atlanta in 1996. It will also mark the return to the place where, in 1984, the USA Basketball Women’s National Team won their first gold medal.

In 2026, the (young) stars, much like the 13 on the US flag, will be aligned.