Kara Lawson Coaches USA AmeriCup Team, Eyes 2028 Olympic Role

Kara Lawson, the Duke women's basketball coach and former point guard at Tennessee, is poised to potentially lead the USA women's Olympic basketball team to another gold medal at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Having already guided the U.S. 3-on-3 team to an Olympic gold medal in Tokyo, Lawson is currently coaching the U.S. AmeriCup team in Chile as part of the World Cup qualifying tournament. She credits her coaching success to her experience learning under legendary coach Pat Summitt and aims to do the best job possible as America's head coach. Lawson could become the second African American to lead the USA women's Olympic basketball team, following Dawn Staley's role in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Despite initially considering coaching at the high school level, Lawson's basketball journey led her to this significant national coaching opportunity. She views this role not as a tryout for the 2028 Olympics but as a serious and important assignment to develop and lead the team.