Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings Headline US Women’s Olympic Basketball Team

Four-time Olympians Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird and Tamika Catchings headline the U.S. women’s national basketball team roster heading to the Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil this summer.

Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings Headline US Women’s Olympic Basketball Team

They will be joined by first-time Olympians Elena Delle Donne, Brittney Griner and Breanna Stewart.

Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus, Lindsay Whalen, Angel McCoughtry, Tina Charles and Sylvia Fowles round out the Team USA roster, which was announced Wednesday morning.

This roster gives coach Geno Auriemma several options as the U.S. pursues its sixth straight gold medal.

“When you look at the team there’s a little bit of everything. A little bit of youth, a little bit of the middle and then there is the veterans,” Auriemma told The Associated Press. “There’s some size and there’s lot of flexibility to handle things a lot of different ways. Everyone that’s on the team is on the team for a purpose. They feel like they can do something that’s unique for the team.

“The ones that won gold medals in the world championship and the Olympics, they are invaluable and yet everyone’s role changes every year. Whatever role you played in 2012 didn’t necessarily mean you will play that role now.”

The U.S. has won 41 consecutive Olympic contests since the bronze medal game in 1992. Taurasi, 33, Bird, 35, and Catchings, 36, were all players on the gold medal teams in 2004, 2008, and 2012. Nine of the players participated in the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

The three veterans, alongside Teresa Edwards and Lisa Leslie, are the only Americans to play in four or more Olympics. Edwards played in five, and Leslie played in four.

Eight players were in New York for the announcement on Wednesday afternoon, and that same afternoon they participated in an on-court demonstration with First Lady Michelle Obama in Times Square as part of the 100 Days Out event.

“In some ways it has even more meaning than the first three,” point guard Bird said. “Mainly I think it’s because that when you are young the tendency is to take things for granted, and you just think these things are going to happen year after year or every four years. But now that I am older, I see that I am really lucky.”  

Meanwhile, Donne, the reigning WNBA MVP, is very excited to have a chance to play in Rio.

“It’s so hard to even put it into words. When Carol called me, it was emotional,” Donne said. “She was nice enough to tell me at the beginning of the conversation so I wasn’t hyperventilating. It’s amazing and a humbling experience as well, with how special and talented this pool of players is.”

Griner had a strong chance at playing in the 2012 Olympics, but was forced to withdraw from consideration due to a family illness.

Stewart, 21, is the youngest player on the team, yet she has already amassed considerable experience as a member of  the USA Basketball squad. She has played in 69 international game since joining the team at the age of 14. Stewart has also won gold medals at almost every level she’s played while wearing the USA jersey.

won gold medals at nearly every level she’s played while wearing the USA jersey.

“Well, first of all when I saw that Carol was calling, I had a mini heart attack,” she said. “Because I’m like, ‘What’s going to happen? I don’t know! I don’t know!’ And then I answered it and … when she congratulated me, it was . I was speechless. I did not know what to say.”

One name not on the roster was Candace Parker. The 30 year old is perhaps the most accomplished player to not make a U.S. Olympic roster in her prime. The two-time WNBA MVP had 21 points and 11 rebounds in the 2012 gold medal victory over France, and was the USA’s leading rebounder in London.

Parker could still potentially make the team as an alternate if someone is injured before the Olympics.

PHOENIX, AZ – SEPTEMBER 09: Diana Taurasi #3 of the Phoenix Mercury during game two of the WNBA Finals against the Chicago Sky at US Airways Center on September 9, 2014 in Phoenix, Arizona.