PARIS — The American women won their eighth consecutive basketball gold medal Sunday with a 67-66 win over France. It is an unprecedented achievement in Olympic team sports, and a dynasty that doesn’t get nearly enough attention across the sports landscape.
Of course, everyone’s next question is going to be: Can they keep the streak going in 2028 when the U.S. hosts the Summer Games for the first time since 1996? The pressure will be on in Los Angeles — not that that’s anything new for USA Basketball.
Still, it made us wonder: Who’s going to be on the 2028 women’s Olympic basketball team? Age isn’t the deterrent it used to be — you’ve probably heard that the U.S. women’s and men’s teams featured a 42- and 39-year-old — so this is a tougher exercise than usual.
Still, it’s fun to think about how much more the women’s game is going to grow and improve both across the U.S. and internationally. With that in mind, here are the contenders for the 2028 Olympic women’s basketball roster:
The 2024 holdovers
A’ja Wilson
She’s the best player in the world on both ends of the floor and just now entering her prime. Wilson’s ability to control every possession both offensively and defensively is a thing of beauty — and it’s scary to think how much better she could be in four years, especially as she develops more of a perimeter game.
Breanna Stewart
If Wilson is ranked 1A in the world, Stewart is 1B. This is her and Wilson’s program now, and her ability to score on any defender at will continues to separate her from other dynamic athletes in women’s basketball.
Napheesa Collier
Collier excels on the block and in the mid-range game but has the shot to step out, giving her a versatility that fits the international game well. Just 27 years old in Paris, she is likely to be an WNBA MVP contender the next few years.
Sabrina Ionescu
The 2024 Olympics are a passing of the baton of sorts for point guards in the USA Basketball system, as Ionescu learns from Chelsea Gray, the best point guard in women’s basketball. Ionescu’s value will come with her experience, basketball IQ and deep shooting ability (coach Cheryl Reeve would also want everyone to note Ionescu’s improvement defensively.)
Jackie Young
Young is a terrific two-way player and one of the best defenders in the world. She’s also one of the strongest players in the WNBA, which gives her a huge advantage on the floor.
The Olympic rookie locks
Caitlin Clark
Great shooters are always an asset during international competition because of their ability to stretch the floor. Clark’s logo 3s will fit in perfectly, and she’ll be stronger after four years in the pros, which means she won’t get knocked around so much (international ball is famously physical).
Paige Bueckers
Outside of Chelsea Gray, the 2024 Olympic team doesn’t really have a true facilitator. This is where the highly efficient Bueckers will shine.
JuJu Watkins
The likely No. 1 pick in the 2027 WNBA Draft, Watkins already has one of the best midrange games in women’s basketball, regardless of level. That, coupled with her size, will make her transition to the pros and FIBA smoother than most guards.
Our money is on them
Cameron Brink
Brink was supposed to make her Olympic debut in Paris at 3×3, but a torn ACL in late June sidelined her. The best two-way player in the 2024 draft, Brink can score and defend with top forwards already, and she loves physical play. She’ll fit right in.
Angel Reese
Reese is a rebounding machine in the WNBA so far, and her play has turned heads. The only catch is that if she never goes overseas in the winter — which she has said she doesn’t really want to do — she could face a major adjustment with the physical play, to the point that the selection committee might be hesitant to put her on the roster.
Aliyah Boston
The 2023 Rookie of the Year had a rough start to her sophomore season in the WNBA but it’s likely that in four years, she is one of the best, and most consistent, forwards in women’s basketball.
The question marks
Kelsey Plum
Plum can play point or off guard, score from either position and knows how to play with superstars. She’ll be 33 when 2028 rolls around. Her inclusion likely comes down to if she wants whether to play in another Olympics.
Jewell Loyd
Loyd is one of the best pure scorers in the WNBA, but she didn’t get many minutes in Paris and therefore, hadn’t done much. Her inclusion on the 2028 roster might come down to who’s coaching and what type of system they run.
Arikea Ogunbowale
The best one-on-one player in the WNBA, Ogunbowale is a gifted shot maker who has torched Team USA at back-to-back WNBA All-Star games, scoring 26 in 2021 before Tokyo and 34 this summer before Paris. In June she said she took her name out of the 2024 USA Basketball pool months ago because of the “politics” surrounding roster selection, saying it “doesn’t have much to do with your game.” Does she want back in before LA?
Rhyne Howard
There’s an argument that 3×3 is a stepping stone of sorts to 5-on-5; we saw as much with Plum and Young, who won 3×3 gold in Tokyo and then graduated to 5-on-5. Is Howard the next to make that jump?
The wild card
Diana Taurasi
The elder stateswoman of USA Basketball right now, Taurasi will be 46 when the Los Angeles Games tip off in four years. It seems crazy to think she could still be playing … but LA is her hometown and until this woman actually retires and is sitting in the stands instead of on the bench, don’t rule out anything.
Email Lindsay Schnell at lschnell@usatoday.com and follow her on social media @Lindsay_Schnell
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Caitlin Clark likely to make Olympic debut in LA. Who else?
