Explains the dominance of the USA Women’s National Teams

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They posed for pictures, clapping while showing off their medals. They were overflowing with pride when the national anthem was played. And some of them even cried.

Afterward, they reflected on what they had accomplished: a seventh consecutive Olympic gold medal and the kind of extraordinary run that made them one of the most famous teams in basketball history. The only outfit with back-to-back championships is the Boston Celtics, who captured eight straight NBA crowns from 1959-66. But since Bill Russell and his teammates weren’t caught around the world, it could be argued that the US Women’s National Team is the most powerful team in all of hoops.

2021’s victory over Japan at the Tokyo Olympic Games took Gold and extended the US’s winning streak to an incredible 55 games. There have been no hiccups or sleepless nights. The team worked like a thresher, tearing apart all opponents and maintaining a rare focus that produced legendary results.

“Our continued success is due to the dedication of our players,” said 2021 head coach Dawn Staley, who played on three of the seven winning teams. “We always have the best.”

That makes Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi the best of the best. They took home their fifth gold medal in Tokyo and provided the kind of veteran leadership that has been a hallmark of the women’s team throughout the tournament. Sylvia Fowles won her fourth gold. Of these three, only Taurasi is playing in this year’s games.

“There is great respect and pride in wearing this jersey,” said Taurasi. “I hope the next generation feels the same pride, the same respect, the same responsibility to make sure we come out here and play the right way. There is nothing like it. There is nothing like playing in the Olympics…When you put the USA on your chest, you are playing for everyone who loves basketball in our country, and that burden that you carry. That’s probably the one thing we won’t miss.”

Although women’s basketball did not become an Olympic sport until 1976, the relationship between USA Basketball and the nation’s top female players goes back a long way. US teams have competed in the World Championship/Cup and Pan American Games since the 1950s. The women’s game has been an important—and very successful—part of USA Basketball, and the continued success and dominance of US teams shows just how strong the sport is in this country.

American women have won nine Olympic and 11 World Cup gold medals. They showcased the nation’s best players and famous coaches. During its 50 years of existence, USA Basketball has strived to be the standard of the game worldwide, and thanks to the success of its women’s teams, that goal has become a reality.

“This doesn’t happen overnight,” Taurasi said after the Tokyo Gold medal match. “This is a process that happened years ago.”

THE EARLY DAYS

For many people, their first glimpse of women’s basketball was at an Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) college game or the first time the International Olympic Committee sanctioned women’s basketball. But US women’s basketball goes back well before that. In 1926, the AAU began holding national championships, and 27 years later, in Santiago, Chile, the US captured its first world title.

Led by Katherine Washington, the 1953 team was made up of seven members of the Nashville Business College team, one future member and another player, and defeated host Chile, 49-36, in the finals. Washington rose to prominence four years later, when the US went to Rio and achieved a 6-0 record and a second straight title. The Soviet Union’s 51-48 victory in the final game won the Gold.

That would be the last victory of the American team over the USSR for a long time. The Soviets won the next four World Championships and went 23-0 in the process. When the teams met in the first women’s Olympic tournament, the 1976 Games in Montreal, the USSR demolished the US team, 112-77, in the group stage. Different circumstances kept the groups apart after that. The USSR did not participate in the 1979 World Games, held in Seoul, because the nation did not have diplomatic relations with South Korea.

The United States boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics, meaning the teams met at the ’83 World Championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil, for the first time in seven years. The result was a heavy loss, 84-82 to the American in the gold medal game.

But that was for any degree of American embarrassment. Big things were coming, and American women were about to show the world how to play the game.

GO FORWARD

When the American team arrived in Montreal in ’76 for the first Olympics to include a women’s competition, they found a two-bedroom apartment waiting for them. That meant 12 players would have to squeeze into bunk beds and avoid tripping. Those humble beginnings helped build the strong core that has propelled US teams into international play.

The Soviets boycotted the ’84 Los Angeles Games, but the talented US team that won Gold featured such standouts as Cheryl Miller and Lynette Woodard and was coached by the legendary Pat Summitt. While the USSR’s absence had many questioning whether the Americans could defeat their main rivals, the ’88 Seoul Olympics answered any questions.

The US won Gold and beat the Soviets, 102-88, in the semifinals. The trio of Katrina McClain, Teresa Edwards and Cynthia Cooper led the team and made the Americans invincible. Not so four years later, in Barcelona. While the men’s Dream Team stormed to Gold, the women could only manage Bronze, due to the loss of the Unified Team, as the Soviet Union was known at the time. That would be the last time the women’s team stood on anything other than the top level of the rostrum. From Atlanta, the US became unstoppable.

The ’96 women’s team was a perfect 8-0, and no team came within 15 points of it. Led by coach Tara VanDerveer, the US featured a deep, versatile team with Lisa Leslie, who averaged 19.5 ppg, McClain, Sheryl Swoopes and Ruthie Brown. The team’s 111-87 victory over Brazil in the gold medal game featured a 71.9 percent field goal percentage in the first half. Simply put, the Brazilians never stood a chance.

As the rest of the world found out in the next six Olympiads, no one else.

DOMINION TO ALL

The numbers at the 2000 Olympics were quite impressive. First, the US was 8-0 in the contest and outscored its opposition by 21.7 ppg. Yes, the team was an offensive juggernaut, outscoring teams like New Zealand by 50-plus points and shooting an average of 50.8 percent from the field, but they also smothered their opponents, holding them to a 37.7 percent shooting percentage. Leslie and Swoopes once again led the way, with Yolanda Griffith providing another solid attacking option. One of the biggest stories was Teresa Edwards’ decision to retire from international play after setting the record for most points scored in all competitions by a US athlete and playing in five different Olympiads.

When the US team went to Greece for the ’04 games, things weren’t so easy, but that doesn’t mean the Americans didn’t succeed. Their first six contests haven’t produced much pressure, although a 71-58 win over Spain had some anxious moments. Defeating Russia, 66-62, in the semifinals was not easy, and the United States found itself tied with Australia in the gold medal game. Still, thanks to the depth and talent of the team, the US prevailed, 74-63, for its third straight Olympic gold.

The story of the team was Leslie, who led everyone in scoring (15.6 ppg) and rebounding (8.0 rpg). It would be the elite’s third Olympic Games, and when the competition was over, he was the US all-time leader in points, rebounds and blocked shots in Olympic play.

Although Leslie didn’t play a big role in 2008 in Beijing, he still had a lot of potential (10.1 ppg, 7.0 rpg). But Sylvia Fowles, Tina Thompson and Diana Taurasi led the way as the Americans put together their best performance to date, outscoring their eight opponents by an average of 37.6 ppg to claim their fourth Gold in their seven Olympiads. Even the final against Australia (again) was not competitive, the United States falling, 92-65.

Leslie joined Edwards as the only athlete, male or female, to win four Olympic basketball golds.

The fifth gold medal of the series was taken in London, and France gave away the rivals in the final game. In what was becoming a trend, the US outscored its opponents by more than 30 points per game (34.4) and only one team came within 25 points. Bird and Taurasi joined Tamika Catchings as captain, and all three made significant contributions. Taurasi led the team with 12.4 ppg, Bird gave up 4.5 apg and Catch was stout on the boards and on the defensive end. The world may not have liked it, but the US was in the lead, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

That was certainly the case in Rio, where the US topped the century mark in six of its eight wins. The final was a 101-72 win over Spain, and the team averaged 37.2 ppg. The Taurasi-Catchings-Bird triumvirate also provided the necessary leadership, but the team was filled with so many stars that it was difficult to imagine the need for one to be at the forefront. Any team members could—and do—fill that role.

The victory showed the growing scope of USA Basketball’s development capabilities. It is possible that a team of 12 other American players could have won Gold, if the team that went through Rio had stayed at home. It’s a sport that wasn’t accepted into the Olympics until 40 years after the men’s version began to overtake its male counterparts in terms of dominance. That shocked some—though it shouldn’t—the elite women’s sport has matured and spread around the world for decades.

As the Paris Games begin, it is clear that USA Basketball has developed a path to success in the women’s area. The game matures every year at the prep, college and WNBA levels, providing endless talent for the national team. There’s no guarantee of Gold at the next Olympiad—or any other—but it’s hard to imagine another country with the resources and commitment needed to topple the US.

In other words, fans of the American women’s team should be ready for another celebration this summer.

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Photos via Getty Images.