The FIBA Womens Basketball World Cup suggestions off Friday, and Staff USA is chasing its fifth consecutive gold medal. Sabreena, Annie and Chantel preview the event and take a more in-depth have a look at a new-look Staff USA with out main scorer Aja Wilson. With seven World Cup debutants on the roster, what is going to the roster modifications imply for Staff USAs technique, chemistry and possibilities of staying on prime? Plus, France could possibly be one of many greatest threats to the U.S. with an skilled roster. However first, we kick off our dialog with the second annual Gamers Period Womens Showcase coming to Las Vegas this December. We break down the loaded matchups, whats at stake and what this occasion means for womens faculty basketball. Then, we talk about Skylar Diggins being positioned on the Chicago Skys season-ending harm listing and what it means for each Diggins and the Sky shifting ahead. And to wrap issues up, we play one other spherical of One thing in Widespread. No Offseason is part of The Athletic Podcast Community: Join the No Offseason E-newsletter: 00:00 Intro 01:43 Gamers Period Showcase returns to Las Vegas 07:07 Skylar Diggins is out for the remainder of the 2026 season 16:22 What A’ja’s absence means for Staff USA 22:11 What is going to Staff USA’s frontcourt seem like? 28:37 Who may have the most important influence for Staff USA? 32:06 Staff USA teaching employees dynamics 37:17 World Cup vs. Olympics 40:58 What makes France such a tricky matchup for Staff USA? Associated hyperlinks and articles: Observe and take heed to the audio podcast: Get in contact! Go away a remark wherever youre listening, or e mail us at NoOffseason@TheAthletic.com Present Hyperlinks: -YouTube: @No-Offseason -Instagram: @tanooffseason [ -TikTok: @no_offseason [ Credits: -Zena on BlueSky: @zenakeita -Sabreena on BlueSky: @sabreenajm -Chantel on BlueSky: @chanteljennings -Layshia on IG: @layshiac -Annie on X: @anniecostabile -Produced by Taneka Burrell -Executive Produced by Andrea B. Scott Visit the Yahoo Women’s Sports Hub: Full Episodes Playlist: Shorts Playlist:
Video Transcript
Just that they’re without Asia, but it’s also that at this current moment in, in its history, they’re, they’re transitioning from the old guard to the new in such a considerable way.
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And Asia’s a bridge to that.
And so without her, y- you start to have to answer the question of who’s gonna be that bridge.
And of course, there’s a number of players.
Hello everyone, and welcome to No Off Season.
I’m Sabrina Merchant.
I’m Chantel Jennings.
And I’m Annie Costabile.
And today on the show, the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup tips off on Friday, and Team USA is chasing its fifth consecutive gold medal, but this year’s team looks a little different.
We’re breaking down what to expect from Team USA, and which teams could actually challenge the US for gold.
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But first, we’re excited to have Chantel back.
We even went out of alphabetical order there.
It was all over the place.
I know.
But I know.
I was like- Hey, Chantel I was literally like, “Disclaimer, we have a script.”
I’m reading the script and I’m like, “Wait, I’m supposed to jump in.
Is it now?
Is it now?
Don’t go too early.”
So yeah, I’m here.
I hope I did all right.
It’s been a minute.
Ah.
We’re thrilled to have you back.
People are always asking about you.
They love hearing your voice on the show, so welcome, welcome.
My, my favorite comment- Lots of basketball to talk about my favorite comment was someone asked you if I was on maternity leave again, which I was like- Oh my God not, not unfair but, but no.
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No, no.
But no.
No, I’m back.
Same number of children.
Yes.
All right.
Well now that you’re here Chantel, we do have some college hoops news to talk about.
The second annual Players Era Showcase is happening in December this year in Las Vegas, and we have a stacked, absolutely stacked field.
Can you walk us through who’s gonna be a part of this, and what to expect from this set of games?
Yeah.
I mean, I think it’s like as you’re looking at this, you have so much of last year’s Final Four presence there.
You have USC, South Carolina, UCLA, Notre Dame, Duke, Texas.
Like, you have this fantastic accumulation of talent.
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Some teams, you know, by this point in the season will have a sense of like where these teams are shaking out.
There’s still some question marks just with the portal graduations, all of the changes that we’re seeing in college hoops.
But to sort of have two days back to back games like this in Vegas, sort of a place that has become a women’s basketball mecca, easy to get to, fun to be at.
Sabrina, I know how much you love your trips to Vegas in particular.
I’m surprised you said fun to be at for Vegas.
Well- I think that’s a- I mean, I think it’s a general consensus.
It’s not how I feel generally for other people fun to be at.
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It’s not how I feel about I know.
I know.
It’s not my favorite place.
But anybody who, who goes there for fun is in love with it.
Anybody who’s going there for work all the time is like, “Why?”
Right.
Yeah, exactly.
Exactly.
It’s like my first trip to Vegas people were like, “Do you love Vegas?”
And I’m like, “My first trip there was for, the Hard Rock Bowl between Utah and BYU.
How do you think my time in Vegas was?”
like, not great.
Not great.
But no, so it’s like great basketball.
I think we’re seeing more and more of these marquee tournaments, specifically like ones that have an NIL bag attached to it so that teams have a reason to play these kinds of games.
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And I think you’re seeing them broadcast more nationally.
It’s easier to get these games than the FloHoops, like the Thanksgiving tournament games.
And so I think they put women’s basketball on a bigger stage, brighter lights, great talent, coaches who sort of wanna test their teams at this point in the season.
It’s not like right out of the gates, right?
They’re gonna have, a good number of, of reps and minutes under their belts to sort of know what their strengths and weaknesses are.
And we should have two really good days of basketball in, in late December.
Yeah.
We’ve got UCLA versus South Carolina, so that’s your national title game rematch.
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Mm-hmm.
You’ve got UCLA versus Texas, which is that Final Four rematch.
Mm-hmm.
USC, Notre Dame, which, I’m sure people would like to see in other sports.
We get that in women’s basketball here.
Mm-hmm.
The one thing I will complain about is I love that we’re getting these marquee games, and the people are really beefing up their non-conference schedules.
I wish that we just had them on actual home courts.
Like, I’m sick of these neutral site games.
Yeah.
We get them during the tournament.
Mm-hmm.
I wish we could get them in the actual building.
Like, get all of the UCLA fans.
Right.
Get all the South Carolina fans, you know?
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Like, the, the attendance in Vegas was, was muted last year.
Mm-hmm.
I think it’ll be a little bit better this year with six schools versus four, and then not- Right at that weird Thanksgiving time, but- Mm-hmm I just miss the, you know, the, the feel of having these, like, real home and home games.
And especially because you get all the neutral site games during the tournament, you know?
But yeah.
Yeah.
It is what it is.
I think it also impacts, like, rivalries a little bit when you’re playing at these neutral sites early in the season.
Because, like even to talk about a rivalry we’ve been talking about a lot the last few days in Tennessee and UConn, like that was born out of these intense match-ups on each other’s home courts.
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Mm-hmm.
And so I think it does do a little something in terms of taking away from some of the energy that typically surrounds these rivalry match-ups.
I think the difference though- Absolutely is that with these games, now everyone gets the payout.
Like, if you’re hosting one of those games, like if you’re a UConn hosting Tennessee, a Tennessee hosting UConn, like the revenue that’s coming into your university for that game is significant.
But now it’s like the payout these teams are getting for going to Vegas, and then it’s also I think something you can tell your players, like, “This is a fun thing we’re gonna do.”
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Like, I would have to imagine that every player I mean, maybe like LA is fun to visit, especially for like Notre Dame players that are like, “Get me out of South Bend in December.”
South Bend.
But it’s like every player in the country is probably like, “Vegas in December for a few days?
Like sure, why not?
Like that sounds pretty decent.”
versus like Tennessee players that are like, “Yeah, let’s go to Storrs, Connecticut in January.
Like, no thanks.”
so I think there’s, there’s a lot of benefits to that, but I could see it.
I also, Sabrina, I thought what you were gonna complain about was that it’s called Like, people are calling it a championship, and it’s just a showcase because that was literally what you spent- It’s just a showcase 10 minutes complaining to me about the other day.
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Well, I was just trying to understand it because last year it was a championship, and this year- Mm-hmm it’s just round robins.
It’s just a showcase.
Yeah.
People are just playing some games.
There’s no winner.
You know, there’s no, like, point differential champion, but, hey, basketball is good basketball.
I’m all for it.
I just- Mm-hmm you know, we had a USC game against Notre Dame in LA two years ago, one in South Bend two years ago.
Hannah Dalgo hitting that game winner doesn’t hit the same if it’s- Right not in South Bend, you know?
Agreed.
There is something lost with this, for sure.
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There is something lost.
What is not lost is all of the money that is coming these teams’ ways because- Right this is a reportedly the highest purse for a women’s college sports showcase ever, something in the mid-seven figures, so definitely beneficial for all these programs to be participating, even if, like we said, something is lost.
But moving on from that, from the world of college hoops to the WNBA, speaking of those Notre Dame guards, Skylar Diggins announced that she would be missing the rest of the regular season for the Chicago Sky.
Remember, that is only four games after the World Cup break because the Sky are not a part of the postseason picture.
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But Annie, Skylar had a, a lengthy, press conference appearance after this was announced.
Uh- Mm-hmm what can you tell us about what she had to say about her year in Chicago?
Yeah, I mean, she said a lot already publicly on her social media, sharing kind of some of her discomfort with the franchise, mainly around, one, her decision or, excuse me, not her decision, but Coach Tyler Marsh’s decision to move her to the bench, but then, two, issues that the franchise has had with staying on track with its practice facility.
Obviously, she signed there as a free agent under the impression that the facility was going to be ready to use this season, and it’s since been pushed to a November opening.
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But this franchise has pushed it multiple times, so I think there’s some trust with, you know, the outside fans specifically as to whether or not, you know, that November opening will actually be upheld.
What I thought was interesting from Skylar’s lengthy press conference was her response to a couple of questions.
One was her response to a question about how her being moved to a bench role impacted her decision to maybe take it easy in terms of rehabbing this, this knee injury versus playing through.
Because what we saw happen was obviously after she was designated to a bench role, she never played again.
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And so what she said during her press conference was that she had been playing through this discomfort.
And at that point, you know, they hadn’t really talked about it publicly, but after that move was made, you know, she, she started emphasizing more the rehab route versus, again, playing through.
The other thing she said too was that, you know, early in the season they were waiting for a lot of players to get healthy, so she felt compelled to play through certain discomfort because they’re, they were missing players.
And so there was a sense once they got these players back that she could put more of a focus on rehabbing the knee.
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The other thing that I thought was noteworthy was her comments about the trade rumors that circulated.
Obviously, like, we reported on here on the podcast in, in various, like, written work that there wasn’t really a trade market for her, but there still was that speculation of, oh, is, is her sitting out rehabbing this knee an indication that she’s requested a trade?
She put a kibosh on those, you know, comments, that speculation, saying that she never requested a trade, that trades were never discussed with her and this front office.
So I thought that was noteworthy as well.
What did you get a sense of, like, what her relationship is like with Tyler Marsh?
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Because she’s had some interesting comments about her, head coach over the course of the season.
Yeah, you know, she seemed really calculated in her response about Tyler and her confidence in him as the head coach heading into next season.
You know, she, she definitely took her time in answering that question and didn’t lean heavily into an overconfident demeanor in regards to him, which I thought was obviously noteworthy.
I think she commended, like, his improvements and, and said that, you know, I’m paraphrasing, but she spoke about, you know, work that’s gonna be put in to improve ahead of the second year.
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But there definitely was not a sentiment that was overly confident in, in terms of, of him.
Yeah, and it’s worth noting that Skylar did sign a two-year deal with Chicago this off-season, so like you said, heading into that second season with the Sky, it’s gonna be a very interesting off-season as every Chicago Sky off-season is because nobody knows what direction they’re heading, and, a lot of, a lot of veteran point guards still to, I don’t know, satisfy in this Chicago Sky roster.
Yeah.
The thing I wanna add to that too, though, is because she also was she wasn’t exactly clear on what the future looks like.
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She did say in various ways she expects to be back with the Sky, but she said, you know, a lot can happen in the off-season.
And she at one point even mentioned free agency, but she’s not a free agent, so she kind of talked about like you never know what can happen.
Again, I’m paraphrasing.
If you wanna listen- Sure, sure to her whole, her whole press conference you can.
It’s available online.
But what I think people need to understand here is Skylar is a veteran point guard in this league.
She’s 36 years old, I believe, and her contract is just under a million dollars next year.
Trading her requires interest to take on that contract.
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She’s also coming off this knee injury now.
So what people have to understand when they’re talking about the Sky’s problems and how everyone wants out, well, that, like a team has to do what’s best for them too, and, and to make a trade you have to have interested parties.
So I think that is what we’ll have to see is, is one, if there’s even an interest in trading her, which there doesn’t seem to be, Skylar said so herself.
But two, if there’s any in party that would be willing to take on this, this contract.
So it’s just, yeah, there’s it’s, it’s not just, oh, there’s issues in Chicago so another player’s forcing their way out.
That’s not what’s happening here at all, guys.
And, and it’s never that simple.
So the more you know.
I’m reminded of last off season when Angel said that, “Yeah, I expect to be back in Chicago, I’m under contract,” and then obviously she was not back in Chicago.
So- Right being under contract is, is good for now, but we’ll, we’ll see how that all sorts out.
Again, we still have, the rest of the regular season to finish here, so, we’ll get back to WNBA in, you know, whenever these 17 days are over.
But for now we have the World Cup to talk about.
So we’re gonna shift our focus to the international game when we come back from this break.
All right.
So Team USA, always the biggest story in any of these international competitions, and the biggest story for Team USA right now is that they’re heading into this tournament without A’ja Wilson and without Kelsey Plum.
So before we get into how this all affects Team USA, Chantel, can we back up for a second and you just walk us through how the FIBA World Cup works exactly?
Yeah.
So there’s, there’s 16 teams.
There’s four pods, let’s call them, of four teams each.
And the first few days of the tournament, so September 4th to the 7th, will be round robin play.
You play everyone in your pod.
Points differential matters here.
You wanna finish first in your group because if you do, you get an auto bid into the quarterfinals, which start on the 10th.
If you finish second or third, you have play in games into those quarterfinals on the 8th and then the 9th.
If you finish fourth, thanks for coming to Berlin, have a beer on your way out.
See you next time.
See you next time, maybe, if you qualify.
And then, the semis are the 12th, and the finals and the third place game are the 13th.
And so maximum number of games a team can play over the course of this tournament is six.
That is what the US is accustomed to playing in this tournament, six games.
And so yeah, that’s kind of how it, it works.
I guess technically you could play seven if you get from the play in game to the final, but the US is probably hoping- Oh, that’s true to avoid that seven.
Yeah.
I guess you could.
Yeah.
Which they have in every previous iteration of this because the US is- Yes, true to put it plainly, very, very good in international tournament.
They have won- Very good the last four gold medals at the World Cup.
They have only even had one single digit game during that stretch of four- Mm-hmm consecutive wins.
So they come in as the heavy favorite in this competition, but they do look a little bit different because they’re without A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum, each of whom has been part of the world championship team in 2018 and 2022, and then also the Olympic teams in 2024, but we’re talking about the World Cup here.
So Annie, just the US team is obviously very talented.
Mm-hmm.
A roster that most every other federation would kill for.
But what does it mean that A’ja Wilson is not on this team?
I mean, when you look back at recent tournaments and what she’s provided, it’s a little concerning just because she’s led the team and, and they’ve relied so heavily on her, and then especially when you consider how close it was during Olympic play, specifically their game against France.
This is a different era and an era that’s been dominated by A’ja.
So you know, I don’t want people s- to create, you know, an overwhelming sense of concern, but I think this is gonna be the most interesting tournament to gauge where the, the United States still is globally wi- you know, without, again, their, their leading scorer.
And because it’s not just that they’re without A’ja, but it’s also that at this current moment in, in its history, they’re, they’re transitioning from the old guard to the new in such a considerable way, and A’ja’s a bridge to that.
And so without her, y- you start to have to answer the question of who’s gonna be that bridge.
And of course there’s a number of players.
I mean, the first off the top of my head is Breanna Stewart.
And so she’s gonna have to be, you know, the same dominant player she is in the WNBA, but on the global stage too at, at the World Cup.
So yeah, it’s, it’s a little concerning the absence of A’ja.
How concerning I think we’ll be able to determine after the first game.
Yeah.
I was kinda surprised, when I looked back at Stewy’s resume that this is her fourth World Cup.
Like, she played in the World Cup- when she was in college, just that good at UConn that they brought her in in 2014, on a team with like- Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird and Maya Moore and all of those.
I promise there are other non-UConn players on that team too.
But yeah Stewie has played now, and this’ll be her fourth World Cup.
Nobody else has played more than one on this USA roster.
Uh-huh.
Like, there are seven players making their senior international debut for the Americans.
Yeah at the five on five level, I should say, Ryan Howard has played in three x three.
But that is a lot of new all at once, and I think the place where I wanna start is those two players who are replacing Kelsey Plum and A’ja Wilson because- well, I feel bad we just completely washed over Kelsey Plum ’cause she’s not A’ja Wilson.
But that’s another guard who has been a significant part of USA at these last four tournaments.
And, you know, they’re being directly replaced by Sonia Citron and Kiki Herrafn.
But I’m also just, like, thinking about the starting lineup.
Like, A’ja’s been the starting center for so long.
Chantel, who do you think takes that spot for her?
I mean, I think my gut says Aliyah Boston moves into that position.
I think you– again, we’re looking at a roster here that is, you know, we’re gonna go off a bit of a cliff here in terms of experience.
And like you’ve said- Mm-hmm you look back at sort of, you know, there is, you know, the history of Team USA in, especially when you look at the Olympic gold medal streak, eight straight gold medals.
Like, there is this sort of cohesion of, like, you know, passing the baton and sort of like having that consistency and cohesion tournament to tournament.
There’s less of that now, and I think there is a benefit.
You know, I think after the last Olympics a lot of people were up in arms about, like, why is Diana Taurasi on this roster?
And I thought, like, that France game, though she did not step on the floor for it, was a really good example of why you have someone like a Diana Taurasi on that roster.
That she was calm.
She was on the sidelines.
It was late.
It was tense.
It’s, like, a one possession game.
She’s smiling.
She’s keeping things calm.
Like, these are times when if you’ve never been on the national stage before, you’ve never been playing for a gold medal in this, you know, in, in this jersey, right?
Like, with this on your shoulders.
Kara Lawson had said there’s not anyone– or Sue Bird had said in an interview that there’s no one on this roster that doesn’t know exactly how many gold medals this team has, how many games they’ve won straight.
Like, the pressure of that gets heavier the closer these games get, the later these games get.
And to have sort of that experience in someone like an A’ja Wilson, where you can look to her and go, “Well, we got the best player in the world, four time MVP,” and she’s smiling.
That’s fine.
It’s like when you’re on a plane and you have turbulence, and you look to the flight attendant and they’re, like, reading a magazine and, like, not bothered.
And you’re like, “All right, we’re not going down.”
Like, “We’re fine.”
that is who you want.
And like you said, there’s seven players now who are putting on that senior national team jersey for the first time in this international competition.
And it’s like, it’s a different feeling.
It’s a different vibe.
And I think the pressures even, you know, Caitlin had talked about it in her first camp.
Like, even in camp the pressures are different.
It’s just like you’re a little tighter.
It takes you a while to get into yourself.
And then bring into that the fact that, like, this is a group that hasn’t played together that much.
Like, there isn’t as much cohesion with these 12 players.
Compare that to a team like Belgium, which I think has five players who played in the 2018 World Cup, the ’22 World Cup- Wow the ’26 World Cup.
So it’s like you have that sort of cohe- cohesion over generations of a team that, like, you know, sort of the benefit of the depth and, and the downside of the depth in US basketball is that, like, you don’t get that sort of, like, locked in group over the course of eight years when you’re looking at Team USA all the time.
Mm-hmm.
The USA did have a lot of this roster in place in Puerto Rico for the qualifying tournament.
Mm-hmm.
Right But the front court is very different than what it was- Right back in March.
You know, you had Monique Billings and- Uh-huh Dearica Hamby starting a lot of the games down in Puerto Rico because Stewie wasn’t available, Napheesa wasn’t available, Aliyah Boston wasn’t available.
It was just Angel Reese and Kiki Herrafn who represent that, continuation from that March group.
So- Mm-hmm that to me is like my first question is like just what does this front court look like for the USA?
Because we saw at the Olympics in 2024 they started Phe, Stewie, and A’ja together.
I’m not sure Phe is really a three.
Like, you can kind of get away with it at, at the international level.
But, do you want Kahleah Copper or Jackie Young or Rhyne Howard in that spot instead of Phe?
Like, Copper and Young have a little bit more– or they’re, I guess, a little bit more informed because Napheesa’s only been back for like the last six weeks or so in the WNBA.
Like you said, the center question is interesting.
Like, my first thought was, “Oh, you’re just gonna start Phe and Napheesa.”
And then I was like, “Wait a second.
You can’t start…” I’m sorry, Phe and Stewie, but you can’t start Stewie at the five.
Like, or can you?
I don’t really know, especially against a Chinese team that has 6’11” Han Xu.
Like, maybe you can just put Stewie against her and trust that, like, all of their time in New York she knows exactly what to do against her.
So I have a lot of just, I mean, off the top, like, who is the first five that comes out of the court for Kara Lawson?
And I’m sure that they have ideas, and I don’t even know if they’re gonna value, like, playing the same five over all of the six games or mixing and matching depending on the opponent.
But there is just so much new that, like, it’s kind of fun to think about.
Like, you used to think about the previous rosters and it was like, “Well, I know these five people are gonna start,” and like, that’s that, and we’ll just see what combinations come off the bench.
But, like, maybe Caitlin starts, maybe she doesn’t.
Maybe Paige starts, maybe she doesn’t.
Like, there’s so many different directions this could go, and I am not confident in any particular configuration.
Yeah, I think that’s what’s kind of, you know, got everyone.
Again, I keep going back to this word concerned, but there’s just so many questions as to what this can look like.
And I think the part that makes it more concerning versus a, you know, something that could be to their benefit is the fact that some– a lot of this group hasn’t had a ton of time together.
Like, yes, there was a g- the group that, that went to, the qualifiers in Puerto Rico, like you just said, is, is different than this group here.
And so they’re going to be figuring stuff out on the fly.
And Kara Lawson talked about the absence of A’ja Wilson, and she just very matter of factly said, you know We gotta focus on us now.
We can’t worry about that anymore.
We now have to shift to what we’re gonna do, obviously, in Berlin.
And so to your point, I think a lot of it is going to be figured out on the fly, and it is going to rely heavily on the match-ups because, yes, how you play a, a China team is not necessarily going to be the same looks you’re giving, you know, a, a French national team.
So I think they have versatility with this roster.
We just don’t know how that’s gonna be deployed quite yet.
I mean, I think it’s interesting because you look at a player like, like A’ja Wilson, and again, it’s like they have versatility, and that’s what I think they have in spades, is like you have these players that can kind of y- again, I think this, this is, even without A’ja, the most talented roster at this tournament, right?
It’s a- But when you take a player like A’ja Wilson away, that changes the calculus of everything, and it got me thinking- Mm-hmm about, and like, you know, history doesn’t repeat, but sometimes it rhymes, and it got me thinking about the 2006 FIBA World Cup.
Like, in that tournament, Lisa Leslie had to withdraw at the last minute because of a family- Mm-hmm emergency, and like that is the last time they lost, and they lost to Russia, and it wasn’t like Russia came out of nowhere.
They had played Russia in the 2002 FIBA World Cup, close game.
They had played them at, at Athens at the ’04 games, close game.
Like, this was a team that like they were aware.
Like, Russia is here.
Like, you know, I think a lot of times people just assume like Tara VanDerveer went on this world tour with Team USA, and then they beat everyone by 40, and here we are eight Olympics later.
Like, that’s not how it’s always been, and I think that sort of rhymes a little bit with this French team, where it’s like, you know, they played in the group stage in Tokyo.
It was an 11-point game.
They played in the gold medal match in Paris, the gold medal game, not match.
Gold medal game in Paris, one-point game.
Like, this is a team that is also building, and you sort of have these last-minute shifts, and I’m, I’m not saying that it’s, you know, going to completely repeat itself, but I do feel like it is interesting that, you know, it’s not like you’re taking the sixth or seventh best player on Team USA, who is still one of the best players in the world, off of this roster.
You are taking the best player in the world out of the picture and out of the floor, where she occupies so much space for this team, and she provides so much, and she is, you know, their most reliable scorer and player in so many ways.
And, and again, sort of to go back to that like Diana Taurasi comparison, I think of her as being sort of that level, steadying force, like her and Stewie as the ones that are like, “Guys, you know, we’re good.
We’ve been here.
We’re fine.”
Yeah, I think that’s the role Chelsea Gray plays on this team.
You know, a lot of people had- Mm-hmm questions about Chelsea’s inclusion because she hadn’t had the best start to the season with the Aces, and then like the day the roster’s announced, she hits those two massive threes against Indiana to close out a ridiculous clutch win, and it’s like, oh yeah, that’s what Chelsea Gray does.
She is the most clutch player, at least among the perimeter group of these USA- Mm-hmm athletes, and her experience having been to two Olympics, having been to a World Cup- Right having been the starter for so many of those games I think is gonna be really important.
Again, Stewie’s experience I think is gonna be so important.
Like, I, I don’t think it’s an accident that all of this USA social content I’ve seen, like there’s a picture of the 12 of them, and Stewie is like very much- In the middle in the foreground.
Yeah.
Like she is the one.
So, yeah, I think- Have you guys seen the Avengers post yet?
I loved that one.
Oh, I haven’t seen that one, no.
Yeah.
Oh, it’s good.
Instead of Guard- Yeah, I guess- Wait, instead of Guardians of the Galaxy, it said Guardians of the Dynasty.
Oh, nice.
I thought that was good.
Mm-hmm.
Wait, did it say dyn- Dynasty it said s- yeah, I think it said dynasty.
I don’t know.
Sorry.
I think it was dynasty.
You’re right.
This is s- I mean, their social media team is like really going.
I saw one today with Angel and, and Paige where they were wearing like the ears, and then they asked them a question, and they had to say like which person- it was most likely to be, and I was like, this is just an interesting like- This is a lot I wanna be in these brainstorming rooms.
Can we, can we all get in there together and just say, like, “Guys, let’s– we don’t have to do too much.”
They’re interesting.
Yeah.
You don’t have to do too much.
So we’ve, we’ve talked a lot about like the big players here, Chelsea, Stewie.
I mean, let’s talk about the youngins a little bit.
Who, who do we expect of these seven newcomers to have the most impact on this team, or who do you have your eye on, Annie?
I mean, I think it’s gotta start with Caitlin Clark.
She was the MVP of the qualifiers, so I, I think, you know, that’s, that’s where it starts for me.
And, and again, going back to the kind of changing of the guard, it– that’s what USA needs, is for Caitlin to be, you know, Caitlin, and I think from there you go to Paige and, and, and Angel as well.
But I think for me it, it starts with Caitlin.
What about you, Michelle?
Yeah, I think– yeah, I, I’m on sort of the same wavelength here with Annie.
I think the back court rotations are gonna be really interesting to see what Kara does there with sort of the talent, like you said, where you have a player like Chelsea Gray.
You have a player like Jackie Young, like players who have that experience, and that, that experience at this level specifically, and then you have this young– the interns.
Are we calling them the interns?
The young interns group.
You have that young group.
The interns.
Like I think just seeing how, again, like these tournaments are all tournaments, but they’re also like they’re consistently trying to learn things and glean things from this team.
And y- you know, what does this mean for two years from now while also trying to win this tournament?
I think those are sort of– you have these like parallel goals with these games, and I think you need to figure out who has it.
I think it’s a really interesting opportunity for Sony.
Like you get thrown into the fire in this situation.
Same for Kiki.
Like, you know, but I think specifically, again, I’m thinking in the back court, like what do these rotations look like?
Who plays well with each other?
What are those groupings specifically where you can put people out there maybe in two or threes and sort of say, like, “We know this, this smaller group within a larger group of five is going to gel and play well together and get us stops and buckets”?
Yeah, I think I’m mostly fascinated with the, the big pairings because A’ja Wilson, like this is USA Basketball is very much like a meritocracy, a democracy.
Like, everybody gets a lot of minutes, you know?
Like, there’s a lot of players who get in that 15 to 25 minute range.
But A’ja was going to get 25 to 30 minutes.
Right.
So there is a huge opportunity for Aliyah Boston and Angel Reese here to really assert themselves as dominant presences inside.
Like, what can they do to anchor that defense, to keep the spacing good for, you know, the USA on offense?
And like again, there’s just a lot of minutes available now that were not going to be there with A’ja Wilson.
So, you know, I’m curious how Angel’s game translates to FIBA.
I’m curious how Aliyah’s game translates to FIBA.
Like, are they gonna use her as the spacer as much as Indiana has?
Are they gonna keep her inside?
Can she be the defensive presence that, you know, she was at South Carolina, that she’s been intermittently at Indiana but not as much?
’cause USA really needs that, right?
Like, they, they’re gonna be going up against a lot of really impressive guards around the world who have been successful at the WNBA level, you know, making these bigs look silly.
Like, they’re definitely gonna have a lot of fun against the USA, when it comes to that point.
Sabrina, I’m curious for your thoughts.
Obviously, we’ve talked about sort of the inexperience of the roster when it comes to players, but this is also a coaching staff.
I mean, Kara Lawson certainly has international playing experience, and they have some coaching experience internationally.
But not a super, super experienced World Cup Olympic coaching roster here outside of obviously, again, Kara playing, being an assistant on the Paris Olympics.
What are you expecting to learn about the coaching staff over the next few weeks?
Yeah, I was thinking about all of the coaches who have taken over USA Basketball, and it’s a very accomplished group, right?
Like, Sheryl Reeve, winningest coach in WNBA history.
Dawn Staley, multiple NCAA titles.
Geno, obviously all of the NCAA titles.
Kara’s like kind of on the lower end of like what she has accomplished before getting the USA job, right?
Like she hasn’t won an NCAA title at Duke.
She hasn’t, you know, coached a WNBA title or anything like that.
So I mean, I think it was pretty obvious that she was going to get the job based on just the, the pedigree through USA Basketball.
But it is interesting that she comes in like as a, a younger, like greener figure, and then all of her assistants are not experienced international ball either.
I don’t think it’s gonna be like a rules issue or anything like that.
You know, I’m pretty sure they can figure out the FIBA of it all and like what stylistically is gonna work.
But like, it is, I don’t know, it’s just a little interesting to me that nobody has like won a title as a head coach.
And that is something that has always been on the USA bench.
And again, it just seems to be putting a lot on like Stewie and Chelsea Gray’s shoulders to be the calming voices in whatever storm the USA ends up facing because, to be clear, I, it’s a very talented team.
I think there will be some, some storm that comes.
Not that they’re gonna lose but there will be some challenge that comes.
I mean, I think Kara, Kara won gold medal with the three X three in Tokyo.
Right.
So I think there’s that.
But like the coach doesn’t even like get on the floor- An assistant, I know you know, during three X three.
I’m just saying like for, for anyone who is going to nitpick your last question or your last comment I just wanted to clarify, I agree with you.
Yeah.
And I, I, I agree that like there are those moments where it’s like you’re looking around for the flight attendant and you’re like, “We’re good, right?
Like, everything’s good.
It’s not time to panic yet, right?”
so yeah.
Yeah.
And like you think about the other coaches just around the tournament, I mean, Mike Thibault being there for Belgium like kinda sticks out to me, right?
Mm-hmm.
Like he’s a guy who has USA experience.
You know, he was an assistant on the same staff with Kara Lawson and led Belgium at last year’s EuroBasket when they had this miraculous comeback, against Spain in the final where they were down 12 with less than three minutes to play and still won in regulation.
Like, I think those moments matter, like being in those situations where you have to really dig deep and figure out, you know, how you’re gonna pull through.
And you know, maybe the USA just like is in a situation where they’re not in any crunch time games, and they’re up by at least six or eight with a minute left, and don’t have to worry about exactly how that pressure feels.
Yeah.
But hey, it’s- That does, that doesn’t seem likely but- N- not a single crunch time game?
That doesn’t seem likely.
You know, it, it has been the case at previous World Cups, you know?
In 2022 this was a very smooth path towards the final.
And again, that was like a loaded roster.
This is a loaded roster.
It’s just so much younger than it has been.
And even though if you think about all these names, how talented and accomplished Paige and Caitlin and Aliyah and Angel and like everybody who’s joining the team is, like it, it has to matter at some point that they haven’t done this before, right?
I mean like, am I overthinking that?
No.
I think that’s the point is like why this is going to be very different than the 2022 World Cup is because of the youth on this roster and the inexperience on this roster.
And all of this is in anticipation of the Olympics in 2028, and so they have to reset or, or level set at some point, and this is it.
And so I think that’s what’s really unique across the board is this is where they get that experience, the coaching staff and, and this roster.
And can they do that while also maintaining the level of excellence that has been exemplified by USAB for, you know, ever?
Eons.
Eons, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, and I, and I think this is, this is the thing is like this, this is not the microscope of the Olympics, right?
Like the World Cup is not on the same level as the Olympics.
An eight gold medal streak- For the Americans I know.
Right.
Yeah.
That’s what I’m saying though.
Yeah.
But like, you know, I think back to like it is still an Olympic cycle.
Like, that’s what Team USA does.
They have their Olympic cycle.
And this is seeing who can handle the pressure.
And I’ve asked multiple people who’ve coached Team USA Women’s Basketball like, “Why do you want this job?”
You have to either be, you are one of two things: You are the best in the world or you’re a failure.
And like, that is a pretty large delta.
Like, and so it’s like you’re only one of those two things.
There’s no gray area here.
And I think like- You’re gonna start to see that with this group ’cause it’s like I think there are players like Chelsea Gray, like Jackie Young, like Stewie who’ve, who’ve been there before, like Kara.
Like Kara’s been on this team, uh- Mm-hmm in terms of being a player.
But it’s, you know, the youth and the senior team are different, and that pressure they carry and the legacy they carry is different when you’re on the national team, the senior national team.
And, you know, again, it’s you can, you can say all of this.
I think stepping on the floor it’ll be interesting to just sort of see everyone with those debuts in, in this tournament.
I do think it’s useful to just level set like what the World Cup means relative to the Olympics.
You know, obviously the Americans think about these international competitions in four year cycles, right?
Like this is the LA cycle and the- Right Berlin World Cup just happens to be a part of that.
I don’t think other countries think of it that way.
Like this is their opportunity to be like put their best foot forward, to put their best team in this competition and compete, you know, at the highest level.
Mm-hmm.
And I think like, you know, for newer fans of the WNBA, if you watch the men’s game, like nobody on the NBA cares about the World Cup.
The Americans don’t care about it.
And like NBA writers have already gone on to say that like they don’t expect a very good team to compete at next year’s World Cup for the men because they don’t need it to qualify for the Olympics ’cause it’s already a home, you know, country qualification.
Mm-hmm.
And like it definitely matters more to the women than it does to the men.
Like it matters a lot more.
There’s a reason why the WNBA is stopping.
There’s a reason why everybody who’s on this team is somebody that you recognize who’s been an all-star, you know, who has accomplished so much in their playing career.
Like it’s not a team of nobodies that the Americans are sending, but- Mm-hmm I, I think it’s interesting that like it’s not necessarily losing at the Olympics, right?
Like this is a different level.
Right.
It’s not going to carry the same weight.
But because it matters so much to every other country, it just like makes it that much more perilous, right?
Because- Mm-hmm everyone else is gonna be bringing their absolute A-game.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
And, we obviously talked about this offline in our- like group chat, but I think that’s what’s really interesting about this and even the decision for Asia not to be competing on this stage is what does this say about the future of the World Cup and what it means to the US, and are the women trending in a direction that the men have already entered into in not prioritizing the World Cup?
And what has that said about the men on the global stage when they do get to the Olympics and they are playing teams that are so committed to building that foundation together?
Like we saw that documentary and on, on the men’s Olympic run and what France said about the men’s team and, and what other, you know, national teams are saying about the men’s team and, and how they looked at them as this team that just throws it together, you know, at the very end.
It’s, it’s like it’s kind of interesting to see all of these, these aspects kind of circling the women now and, and whether or not they take hold will, will be, you know, something to watch.
Yeah.
I think it’s pretty clear that regardless of when this tournament is, the fact that it’s at this weird break in the WNBA calendar, the fact that they don’t have Asia, like all of that, it doesn’t change the expectation, right?
Like the USA goes in as the best team determined to win gold.
They have only not done so like once this entire millennium.
And like Chantel said, it was when Lisa Leslie had the family emergency, had to opt out.
I, I don’t love the parallels.
I– It gives me a little bit of, anxiety thinking about it right now.
But, none, none of that has changed, right?
Regardless of how this may affect how the USA thinks about the World Cup going forward.
Like in 2026 when this competition tips off against China on Friday, like USA is supposed to be not just better than everybody else, but like much better than everybody else.
And at this point I think it’s worth just like mildly getting into who else, you know, we’re gonna have an eye on in this competition.
Who is everybody else?
Yeah.
Who is everybody else?
We will be talking about this on the show tomorrow, so don’t worry.
Like this is not a USA exclusive preview of the World Cup.
We’ll get to that tomorrow.
But Annie you mentioned France.
Just why is it just briefly that France is such a tough competition for the US right now?
I think because of their experience together and who anchors that team.
I mean, when you look at the entire roster, there’s– they have the second most WNBA players to the US, US.
They have eight WNBA players, but Gabby Williams is the head of that.
And then from there I think their guard play in Pauline Astier and, who else?
Marine Johannes obviously.
I think really, you know, they’re solid.
They’re really solid.
And then you think about Dominique Malonga and, and Janel Salaun.
Like it’s, it’s really like I know we keep saying the US are not only expected to go in and do well, but they’re expected to go in and win and dominate, but I’m just like not sold on that.
Anybody else you have an eye on, Chantel?
No.
I mean, I think France is the, the biggest challenger here.
I think I had mentioned Belgium earlier.
I think their consistency over time, is their big benefit.
And you mentioned they have Mike Thibault coaching them, so there’s a level of familiarity there.
Obviously, we’ve seen a lot of Belgian players in the W as well, so, there’s a lot of familiarity I would say that, that could help.
But, you know, a, a similar team where, you know, the US has played them a few times in international competition over the last few years.
Two of those games were single digit games, notably, Olympic world qualifying the US won by two.
Also not a fully stacked roster on the US side though at that time.
Um- But not an A’ja Wilson team, which is a similarity that’s gonna, you know, bear out here.
Yeah.
I mean, I think the team that this is not, you know, a team that I think necessarily poses a huge threat to the US.
They haven’t beat the US since the ’70s in international play, but like, if you get a chance to watch Japan, you absolutely should.
They’re a blast to watch.
It’s this fast, frenetic, like small ball play, full court pressing, just sort of like trying to use speed as such a weapon on the floor that, it’s just really, really fun.
Like you should- Mm-hmm you know, I think the earliest the US would see them would be the quarter-finals.
Which is obviously a possibility.
But, yeah, I would say that’s a team that, not necessarily a threat to the US, but definitely planning to watch them in the group stages.
Yeah, one team that I, just hasn’t like had the most international success, though I think they’ve been, second place in the last two EuroBaskets is Spain.
And they’ve just got this really interesting younger generation that’s coming up in Awa Pham, in Iona Martin, that has had a lot of success at the youth level internationally, even if the senior team hasn’t.
And I wonder just how, like how quickly that turns, into, you know, a team that can actually contend with, with the very best.
But yeah, Iona Martin just like maybe my most fun player to watch outside of the US right now, and delighted to see what she does on a bigger stage.
That is all we have for now with our, again, USA specific part of our World Cup preview.
Stick around for tomorrow and we’ll get way deeper into the challengers for the United States.
But on the other side of the break, we have a game, so stick around.
All right, so Chantel is back and that means we have some- hopefully not too challenging game from Chantel.
We’re gonna be playing something in common today, and we’ll see how Annie and I do with this game that Chantel has written.
All right, so our first group of three names.
This is something only they have in common.
Yes, they’ve all played in the World Cup before, but that is not what these three have in common.
Think more W centric.
Okay?
Chelsea Gray, Kahleah Copper, and Breanna Stewart.
They’re finals MVPs.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Good job.
Yeah.
Sorry, I thought I was going very World Cup specific before.
Yeah.
No, no, no.
This is good.
This is– I’ll tell you also, the hint is that that is the only one that has anything to do with basketball, so- Oh, lovely.
Take that to the bank.
All right, the next one.
Chelsea Gray, Kahleah Copper, and Sonia Citron.
What do those three players have in common?
You guys, I’m not good at this type of thing.
I have no idea.
Okay.
Sony wears 22, Chelsea wears 12?
Oh, so it’s not a two.
Kah wears two though, doesn’t she?
Or something like that.
I don’t think it’s something in common though.
That’s just like, yeah.
They all went to college west of Texas?
No.
Or east- No, no.
East.
Yeah, yeah.
East of Texas I meant.
I think more of them have that in common.
The Yukon folks definitely do.
Okay.
Um- Sony, Chelsea, and Kahleah.
Oh.
Mm-hmm.
No.
Well like Gray and Copper, but that doesn’t have anything in common with Citron I don’t think.
Uh- Or does it?
They, they all like Philly cheesesteaks.
What, what does Citron mean?
They all have C in their, in their name?
Yeah.
Sabrina’s on the right path here.
Okay.
Citron is a color.
What is- It is a lime green color Oh, it is a color.
Oh, I didn’t know that.
All of their last names are colors.
Okay.
Gray, Copper, and Citron.
That works.
That was Yeah.
All right, last one.
Oh.
This is, this is the hardest one.
Okay.
Ready?
I think we’re doing okay so far.
Aaliyah Boston- Mm-hmm Aaliyah Boston, Napheesa Collier, and Caitlin Clark.
Okay, well they were all rookies of the year.
Aaliyah Boston, Caitlin Cl- Okay, not that.
This has nothing to do with basketball.
Right, because other people have that.
Yeah, yeah.
I’m saying other people have that too, so it’s not- Mm-hmm yeah.
Aaliyah Boston, Napheesa Collier, Caitlin Clark.
Okay, well they went to three different schools.
Um- AB is- You guys she grew up like in Boston, right?
No, no, she didn’t grow up in Boston.
Did she?
Yeah, I think she went to college or went, came home from- She went to high school there to high school, yeah.
But Caitlin’s from Iowa and Napheesa’s from Missouri.
Huh.
Caitlin.
Napheesa Collier, Aaliyah Boston, Caitlin Clark.
Can you give us a hint?
The hint would be that if A’ja Wilson were playing in this tournament, she would also be in this group.
Okay.
Still, still rookies of the year, but it’s not a basketball thing.
They all lost, they all lost on the NCAA, an NCAA title?
You’re thinking way too basketball specific, Annie, right now.
Yeah.
This has nothing to do with basketball.
Um- I have no idea.
I don’t think AB ever lost a title game though, so that wouldn’t quite work.
Um- Aaliyah, Caitlin, Napheesa.
Well, Napheesa’s the only one with a kid.
You guys, like literally no idea.
This is– what’s weird is, all I can think of is that they’re all No, this is not right.
No, please say it.
No, no, it’s not.
Please say it.
It’s not right.
‘Cause there are other people on the team who fit in this category.
Okay.
Yeah, yeah.
Huh.
Aaliyah, Caitlin, Napheesa.
Their names don’t even rhyme.
Um- All right.
Uh- Shall we put the reveal up?
Yeah, I got nothing.
Yeah, go for it.
They all love tea or teas They all love what?
Teas.
The Boston Tea Party.
Oh my God.
What?
Napheesa’s former podcast with A’ja was called- Tea with A and V Tea with A and V. Yeah, yeah.
Mm-hmm.
And Caitlin Clark gets teas all the time.
They all love teas.
I literally – There’s no way I was gonna guess that.
Well, how does Angel not fit into this then?
Ca- Angel gets teas all the time too.
She Okay.
She would also fit into that then I guess, so yes.
Oh, yeah.
But I was trying to, when you wanted a, when you wanted a hint, I thought maybe the Fe A’ja one.
Yeah.
That’s fair.
The Boston.
That’s fair, yeah.
Yeah.
So.
What an iconic podcast too.
I feel like we don’t talk about that enough, the fact that those two had a podcast.
It was a good podcast too.
Yeah.
Among the player podcasts, really up top.
Yeah.
Yeah, for sure.
Anyway, Anyway, what, what a welcome back for Chantel.
We hope you enjoyed that, game or whatever.
Something in common that we were, Chantel was able to provide.
You learned a little bit more about, the Team USA roster that will be taking the court on Friday.
All right, that’s all we have for today.
Thank you for tuning in, and we’ll be back tomorrow to dive into more about the FIBA World Cup.
Don’t forget to check out The Athletic’s No Off-Season newsletter that drops every Tuesday.
Annie and I are having a great time writing that, and we love all of the comments that you bring in, so please keep sending those emails.
Be sure to follow our show.
And also join The Athletic Live on YouTube for the sports stories that we can’t stop talking about.
Watch the biggest match-ups with The Athletic’s most tapped in reporters.
Mm-hmm.
And join the conversation live in the chat.
The Athletic Live, presented by Google Gemini, starts on September 8th.
Subscribe now on YouTube.
On behalf of The Athletic, Chantel Jennings and Annie Costabile, I’m Sabrina Merchant.
Thank you for listening, and we’ll see you next time.
No Off-Season is hosted by Zena Keita with Chantel Jennings, Sabrina Merchant, and Annie Costabile.
It’s produced by Tanika Burrell.
Our executive producer is Andrea B. Scott.
Monica Compton is our video editor.
Our theme music is by Marcus Fogala.
Shannon Ryan is managing editor of women’s basketball at The Athletic.
