MIAMI – Caitlin Clark grew up watching the greats of Maya Moore, Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi dominate the world stage with USA Basketball.
He envisioned one day following in their footsteps and representing the red, white and blue in international competitions.
So before Clark took to the practice field in Miami on Saturday to prepare for the upcoming FIBA Women’s World Cup Qualifying Tournament, the memories of the trip came flooding back.
He recalled when his under-16 team walked into a room at USA Basketball headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo., that was filled with legendary jerseys.
For others, that room was a glorious storage house, full of boxes, shelves and shelves.
But to Clark, it meant something more.
“I remember when I was a kid, like, my eyes were wide open,” Clark said. “I thought that was the coolest thing in the world – all these senior national team jerseys for all these great male players and all these really good female players – and we’re 15 and 16 years old and obviously we have dreams of being able to do that one day.”
That time has come.
Clark, Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese – three of the new faces of the WNBA – were among a group of players who made their debut for the USA Basketball national team on Wednesday in a World Cup qualifier in Puerto Rico with a 110-46 victory over Senegal.
Clark finished with 17 points and 12 assists. Bueckers had nine points and four rebounds while Reese had six points and eight boards.
The list – the first that Nyoni has included since being named the first director of the US women’s national team in May – includes veteran leaders, such as Chelsea Gray, Kahleah Copper and Kelsey Plum, as well as newcomers. And Bird was happy to see the team play on Wednesday.
“We have a great team,” Bird said. “Just kidding, I’ve been doing this for about 20 years on napkins, so it was nice to have a real list.”
Napheesa Collier, A’ja Wilson, Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart are among the notable blinders due to scheduling conflicts or various other reasons. Stewart practiced with the team in Miami but returned to New York on Sunday to rest before heading overseas next month for a stint with Fenerbahce Opet of the EuroLeague.
The US has already qualified for the 2026 World Cup, so the stakes for this upcoming tournament are not that high.
Still, Bird believes this is a “great opportunity” for some newbies to play international basketball, which is a different style than what they are used to.
“In the world at large, you have to understand that when you wear that jersey, it’s different,” said Bird. “People come to you differently.”
Those who have played for the national junior teams know how rare the opportunity to be called up to the senior team is.
Clark said he played for three national junior teams, including two under-19 teams. His absence from the list for the 2024 Paris Games sparked controversy. But Clark said he’s enjoying every step of the journey.
“Obviously this is everyone’s dream,” he said.
Clark, Reese and Bueckers have been competing for a long time. But it will be the first time they share the stage as partners.
“It’s going to be really good,” Reese said. “So I’m very happy. Obviously 2028 is a long way off [off]but just being able to have this moment right now, I think is really important.”
These three know that there is honor and pride that comes with playing for USA Basketball. They are well aware of eight consecutive Olympic gold medals as well as the Americans winning four consecutive World Cups (11 in total).
“You just stay humble and calm while using that as motivation to keep wanting to get better [and] to continue to build on what people have built before us,” said Bueckers. “They set the stage for what we want this to look like and the fire of competition, victory, just pride and the feeling of love you have wearing the USA, so it means a lot but again, those are just words. We want to do something after that and really follow through on that.”
