The relationship between all-time women’s basketball greats Sue Bird and Kara Lawson goes back quite awhile.
The were archrivals in college with Bird starring for UConn and Lawson at Tennessee and faced off in some of the great rivalries most memorable games. They would later be teammates on the U.S. women’s national team.
The relationship continued on Monday when Bird, as the recently named director of the U.S. women’s national team, handpicked Lawson to coach the 2028 Olympic team that will go for gold in Los Angeles. Lawson helped the U.S. win an Olympic gold medal as a player 17 years ago. Now she’ll have a chance to lead it to another as the coach.
Lawson takes over immediately and will lead the team for the next four years and into the LA Games.
“I mean it’s hard to put everything into words as it’s something I’ve been working towards. I have so much love for USA Basketball and have been so excited to serve in any capacity they ask me to,” Lawson said in a phone interview. “It’s the best job in the sport in our country. To lead the U.S. women’s national team is such an amazing feeling. I felt a great sense of excitement and pride and just am really grateful for the opportunity.”
Naming Lawson coach was the first official move made by Bird, who started as the U.S. national team director earlier this year. In the past, a committee would decide on the coach and roster.
FILE – Head coach Kara Lawson directs players during a USA Basketball women’s Americup Trials practice on June 18, 2025, at the USA Olympic training center in Colorado Springs, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
“I think her resume, her experience, it all kind of speaks for itself,” Bird said in a phone interview. “When you start to learn about Kara and what she’s been a part of from a USA Basketball standpoint, that experience specifically made it really clear she’s the right person to lead us into the next cycle.”
Lawson’s first chance to coach the team in a major competition will be at the World Cup next September in Germany. The Americans will play next March in a qualifier for that tournament, but that’s right before the NCAA Tournament, which would make it difficult for Lawson to coach the U.S. because she also leads Duke’s women’s basketball team.
“Assembling a great staff for the national team is of the utmost importance,” said the 44-year-old Lawson. “I’ll lean on that staff a lot through that cycle. … You have to have great coaches around you, have great players around you. We have the ability to do both and that will be our challenge. Find the right group that will fit.”
In addition to the Olympic gold she won as a player at the Beijing Games, Lawson helped the U.S. win gold as an assistant coach at the 2022 World Cup and 2024 Paris Olympics and as head coach at the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup in July.
“I know this from playing with her and know this from all the conversations I had with her: I’m hard-pressed to find someone who is as prepared as Kara is,” Bird said.
