By Louis Fernandez, WRAL Sports

Before women’s basketball head coach Kara Lawson got to Duke, starred in the WNBA with the Sacramento Monarchs or played for Pat Summitt and the Tennessee Lady Vols, she had a dream.

“My first athletic goal I can remember setting was being an Olympian,” Lawson told WRAL in July.

In Beijing in 2008, that dream came true. Lawson was part of a Team USA that included Tamika Catchings, Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker and Diana Taurasi, walking away with a gold medal. It was far from her first foray into the international basketball world.

“My first USA basketball experience was 17 (years old) played in the World Youth Games in Moscow, Russia, back in 1998,” Lawson said.

Her path lead to coaching, leading 3×3 FIBA teams, youth Olympic games, Pan American games, even as the head coach of the first women’s 3×3 Olympic in Tokyo in 2021. Every international team she’s served as head coach with has come away with a gold medal or first place in its respective tournament. Now the path continues as an assistant coach for the USA Women’s basketball team in Paris.

“To be a really small part of players achieving those same types of dreams is awesome,” Lawson said.

The sights and the sounds of the Olympics have never faded from Lawson’s mind.

“The opening ceremony is as awesome as it looks,” she laughed. “You know, the butterflies in your stomach before your first game, obviously winning a gold medal and hearing the Star Spangled Banner played.”

“I think I’ve been fortunate that USA Basketball has selected me to be a part,” Lawson said. “It’s such an elite group of people and it’s a very hard assignment to earn. A lot of players and coaches want to be involved in USA Basketball. So it’s a privilege every time you get an opportunity to be a part of it.”

USA Women’s Basketball dominates on the international stage

USA women’s basketball has made 12 appearances in the Olympics. They’ve finished with a gold medal on nine occasions, including the past seven straight Olympics going back to 1996. Eight golds in a row would be one of the most dominant runs in Olympics team history.

“People are wondering about a three peat for the (Kansas City) Chiefs, or back-to-back for other teams, you know what I mean? This group is going for eight straight!” Lawson exclaimed.

“There’s a lot of pride. We understand that we’re representing not only our great nation, but a long line of women that have been excellent.”

The coach adds the national team is the highest performance environment she’s been a part of. While she helps to give to the players and other coaches, Lawson learns while on the job as well.

“I think the more pressure you can be around the better because, you know pressure reveals a lot about you, where you’re strong, where you’re weak, where you can improve. And so I want to be someone that is around pressure all the time, embrace it, use it to make you better. So being in these pressurized environments, helps me grow because I have to train myself to perform at my best, coach at my best in these moments,” Lawson said.

Lawson’s connections run deep on Team USA

As you might imagine, with the amount of years Lawson has spent with Team USA, she has close relationships with many of the players and coaches. She’s played against head coach Cheryl Reeves and her teams.

“Coach Mike Thibault (another assistant on the team) coached me, okay? He was my WNBA coach for five seasons. He was an assistant coach for me as an Olympian in 2008 and now I get to share this staff with him,” Lawson said.

There’s also the players: Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young were all on the 3×3 Olympic team with Lawson and are now on the 5×5 Olympic team this year. Kahleah Copper, former Duke guard Chelsea Gray, Sabrina Ionescu, Jewell Lloyd, Breanna Stewart, Alyssa Thomas and A’ja Wilson were all on the 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup team where Lawson worked as an assistant coach. Don’t forget, Taurasi, who played with Lawson in ’08, is still on the team as a 42-year-old. The highlights don’t come to mind when Lawson things of these coaches and players. It’s the relationships.

“You think of like oh, we won a World Cup in Australia together. We won an Olympic gold in Tokyo together, like that’s what flashes in your head,” Lawson said.

Leaving a legacy

From the women’s college basketball to the WNBA, popularity of the sport continues to skyrocket. The Olympics could prove to be an opportunity to ride and life the momentum. It sounds like Lawson believes that “legacy” and “impact” will take care of itself.

“My hope is that we win. I think that’s the best way to continue to cement a legacy – to have a legacy of excellence,” Lawson said. “I think no matter the sport, in America, we are we are drawn to excellence, we are drawn to winners, we are drawn to champions.”

A way to show how far women’s basketball has come, but to remind newcomers, it’s been here for a long time. Time to hop on the bandwagon.

“As more eyes are being opened to our sport, it’s good that they’re going to have an understanding of how excellent this group is if we’re able to win, but also how excellent the group as been for a long time.”

“What I hope happens is a really an appreciation and respect for the program itself and for United States Women’s Basketball.”

Source: wralsportsfan.com