USA Basketball names Thibault, Lawson and Taylor assistant coaches

It was announced Tuesday that Mike Thibault, Carla Lawson and Joni Taylor will serve as assistant coaches for the 2024 U.S. Women’s National Basketball Team, which is aiming for gold at this summer’s Paris Olympics.

The assistants, who will serve under head coach Cheryl Reeve, were selected by the U.S. Basketball Women’s National Team Committee and represent the same staff that helped the U.S. team win gold at the 2022 FIBA ​​World Cup in Australia.

“After winning gold in Sydney, we are thrilled that Mike, Kara and Joni will once again be joining Cheryl on the U.S. women’s national team for the 2024 Paris Olympics,” USA Basketball Association CEO Jim Tooley said in a statement. I think so.” “Our staff has decades of diverse coaching experience, and we look forward to watching them lead the women’s team toward its goal of winning eight consecutive Olympic gold medals.”

Thibault, who was an assistant on the 2008 Olympic team, was the winningest coach in WNBA history until his retirement in 2022 and is currently the general manager of the Washington Mystics. Meanwhile, Lawson and Taylor are currently coaching at the collegiate level at Duke University and Texas A&M, respectively.

Lawson was a 2008 Olympic gold medalist with Team USA and coached the U.S. 3×3 team to a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Taylor led the 2023 U.S. Women’s U19 National Team to a gold medal at last year’s U19 World Cup.

The U.S. national team, which won the gold medal at the 2022 World Cup and qualified for Paris, will aim to win its eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal and 11th gold medal overall. The team’s roster will be determined in the coming months.