Bird, Taurasi and USA Women's Basketball Team Full Roster for 2021 Tokyo Olympics
June 21, 2021
The United States women's national basketball team roster for the Tokyo Summer Olympics was announced on NBC's Today on Monday morning.
Lyndsey D'Arcangelo of The Athletic relayed the roster, which includes a pair of four-time Olympic gold-medal winners in Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi.
South Carolina women's hoops head coach Dawn Staley, who won three gold medals for Team USA as a player, will lead a roster in search of its seventh straight first-place finish at the Olympics.
Team USA's Olympic legacy is nothing short of remarkable, and this year's loaded roster will be the heavy favorite heading into Olympic competition.
As Richard Deitsch of The Athletic noted, Team USA is 66-3 in the Olympics since 1976 and 48-0 since the gold-medal run began in 1996.
Team USA dropped a hype video following the announcement, featuring comments from the players:
Reigning WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson leads the talented group of first-time Olympians to Tokyo.
WNBA 2019 Rookie of the Year (and All-Star) Napheesa Collier, three-time WNBA All-Defensive Second Team member Ariel Atkins, four-time WNBA All-Star Skylar Diggins-Smith, three-time WNBA All-Star Chelsea Gray and two-time WNBA champion (and All-Star) Jewell Loyd cap that list.
The Olympic returnees have legendary resumes.
Bird's laundry list of accomplishments includes four WNBA championships, two NCAA titles, 11 WNBA All-Star nods and five All-WNBA First Team honors, among many more.
Taurasi is a 10-time All-WNBA first-teamer who has also won three WNBA championships and three NCAA titles.
Tina Charles, a seven-time WNBA All-Star, five-time All-WNBA first-teamer and 2012 WNBA MVP, is looking for her third gold medal. Sylvia Fowles, a two-time WNBA champion, six-time WNBA All-Star and 2017 WNBA MVP, is going for gold medal No. 4.
Brittney Griner and Breanna Stewart round out the team.
Griner, a seven-time WNBA blocks champion who has also led the league in scoring twice, is going for her second gold medal. The center's resume also includes a WNBA title, an NCAA title and six All-Star appearances.
Stewart may be the GOAT by the time her career ends, as she already has an Olympic gold medal, four NCAA titles, two WNBA titles and a WNBA MVP on the record. The Seattle Storm star was also her team's Finals MVP after they beat the Las Vegas Aces in the 2020 WNBA championship.
This year's opening ceremony will take place July 23. The Games will run through Aug. 8.