PARIS — Now that they’ve won their eighth consecutive gold, an unprecedented achievement in Olympic team sports, talk about the U.S. women’s basketball team will almost surely shift immediately to the future and if they can do it again in 2028.
That’s the wrong question.
The right one to ask is: If they win gold at home in 2028, will Americans finally appreciate the most dominant dynasty in global basketball history?
And will they show up to see if they can indeed make it nine in a row?
Sunday in Bercy Arena, in the very last event of the 2024 Paris Games, the U.S. women hung on in a wild ride against host country France, squeaking out a 67-66 win to continue their unbeaten streak at the Olympics (61 games and counting). It was a back-and-forth thriller that delighted the crowd of 12,126 and took a career-defining defensive performance from A’ja Wilson, who led Team USA with 21 points, 13 rebounds and crucially, four blocks.
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“I think everyone thinks these games are gonna be easy because we always win gold medals,” said Diana Taurasi, who became USA Basketball’s only six-time gold medalist in the victory. “A game in France against a French team — we know what kind of pedigree they play with. We’ve all played overseas and playing in France, they were always the toughest games. They’re physical, they play hard, they play for their country.
“That was a tough win.”
A chaotic one, too.
Tied 25-25 at halftime, France opened the third quarter with a 10-0 run, putting the Americans in a double-digit hole, their largest deficit of the entire tournament. Back home, officials in the White House situation room surely moved the U.S. to Defcon 1. Wasn’t this supposed to be a cakewalk?
“It felt like we were back and forth the whole time,” said Breanna Stewart, who finished with 8 points and 2 timely blocks. “No matter what, whether it’s a good win, ugly win — we just wanna win. And we got the gold.”
The U.S. battled back, then the teams traded baskets and leads before Wilson helped them put the game away in the final 20 seconds, corralling a crucial defensive board after Stewart tipped a French 3-point attempt and hitting one of two free throws.
And yet, it easily could have gone to overtime: Gabby Williams’ shot went in at the buzzer, before the French forward crushingly realized she was in front of the 3-point line when the ball left her hand.
That the gold medal game was this good — 11 ties and six leads — and in question until the final buzzer is a testament to the fact that women’s basketball is growing all over the world, not just in the U.S. After the final, Taurasi called it proof that “the women’s side is catching up, it’s all going in the right direction.”
U.S. coach Cheryl Reeve talked all Olympics about how Team USA’s basketball dynasty has been “defined by depth.” When one WNBA All-Star isn’t playing well, there are numerous other options on the bench.
That was the case again Sunday, when Reeve turned to Kahleah Copper (12 points, five rebounds), Kelsey Plum (12 points, four assists) Sabrina Ionescu (three perfect and perfectly-timed assists) when the Americans were floundering.
At one point it was an 8-0 run for the Las Vegas Aces as Plum hit a 3 and fed Wilson for a transition bucket and then Plum hit another 3 after a Wilson block (and on the defensive possession before that, Wilson had grabbed a steal).
“I wasn’t necessarily thinking I need to score, but I was thinking, ‘I need to come in and make a play,’ especially because I don’t think we had momentum,” Plum said. “The game was so choppy, we couldn’t really get anything going in terms of running offense. But that’s my type of game, because I break a lot of plays.”
The crazy reality about the USA’s depth is sometimes, it can lead to an unfamiliar lineup. That was the case late when Wilson, Stewart, Plum Copper and Ionescu were on the floor together. Plum noticed immediately it was a different five than usual and joked to Ionescu when she came in, “Hey, let’s finally play together instead of being each other’s subs.”
Team USA, Olympians like to say, is the hardest roster in the world to make, no matter the sport. And as Reeve pointed out this week, in women’s basketball it’s getting even harder to earn a spot on the 12-person roster given the talent sprouting up across the country and the career longevity of some of the top veterans.
Should the U.S. win again in Los Angeles — and they will again be the favorite — it will likely be because of that depth.
Is this the best, most impressive Olympic dynasty of all time? That’s hard to quantify when you consider the the way the Soviet Union used to own gymnastics, how Americans have crushed competition for years in the pool and the fact that China has long ruled niche sports like table tennis and badminton.
But USA women’s basketball is certainly in the conversation at least. And that’s of no surprise its participants.
“The fact that women have dominated these Olympics, we know,” Stewart said, motioning up to right, where Wilson and Reeve were sitting. “You got all women up here, we know. And we’re going to continue to fight for equality and continue to raise the bar and the standard for our sport and outside of our sport.”
“When it comes to getting the work done, getting the job done, a woman’s going to always step up to the plate,” Wilson added. “When it’s time to shine bright on these big stages … when it comes to showing up and showing out, I’m always putting my money on women.”
Email Lindsay Schnell at lschnell@usatoday.com and follow her on social media @Lindsay_Schnell
