Duke's Kara Lawson has been named the next head coach of the United States women's basketball team.
Lawson, who was an assistant coach on the 2024 gold-medal-winning national team and a gold medalist as a player in 2008, will lead the U.S. at all major competitions leading into the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
"To win a gold medal as a player was amazing, and one of the earliest goals that I set out when I was young," Lawson told ESPN. "I think that is what drives you because you know how great that feels and you want the players you coach to experience that. You get to have this permanent memory in your sport and so the goal is to try to help them create that for themselves at the different world events."
Lawson takes over the national team from Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, who guided the women to their eighth consecutive gold medal at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
While the United States' dominance at the international level is unparalleled -- America has won 60 consecutive Olympic games -- Lawson knows firsthand how close the rest of the world is to closing the gap.
Lawson was an assistant on Reeve's staff as the U.S. defeated France by the slimmest of margins, 67-66, in the Paris gold medal game, when Gabby Williams stepped on the 3-point line as she hit what would have been a game-tying 3-pointer at the end of regulation.
"The international game has never been more competitive on the women's side," Lawson said. "And I think the roster for the U.S. women has always been the most competitive roster to make. I would argue in any sport, it's the hardest roster to make. But this might be the hardest of the hardest roster to make. Because there's so many good veterans that have won a lot for our country. And there's an amazing group of young players that are already competing at this level."
Lawson coached a number of those younger players as part of USA Basketball's 3-on-3 programs both at the high school level and when it debuted as an Olympic sport at the Tokyo Summer Games in 2021.
Some of the young players she worked with then include the Dallas Wings' Paige Bueckers, Indiana's Aliyah Boston, the Los Angeles Sparks' Rickea Jackson and Kelsey Plum, the Atlanta Dream's Allisha Gray, and the Las Vegas Aces' Jackie Young.
"There's nothing like the pressure of big competition, and so I love the fact that I have the experience, the Olympic experience of a gold medal game and semifinal game and the pressure of being the overwhelming favorite and having to come through," Lawson said. "Having been through that as a player, and as the 3-on-3 head coach, and an assistant last year in Paris, I think anytime you get reps at the highest level, it's valuable.
"And, being in those battles with those high-quality players means you kind of have a feel for their competitive fibers and what makes them tick. Hopefully they feel a bit of comfortability with me as well."
Lawson was chosen for this position by Sue Bird, the Olympic gold medalist and Hall of Famer who was named the first managing director of the USA Basketball women's national team in May. In this new role, Bird is responsible for choosing both the coaching staff and the players for international tournaments.
For most of their lives, Bird and Lawson were friendly rivals. First as standout guards growing up in the Northeast, then at UConn and Tennessee, then in the WNBA with Seattle and Sacramento, and finally as teammates on the 2008 Olympic team.
"We've known each other since we were 9 years old," Lawson said of Bird. "And we've always had a healthy respect for each other."