COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — (AP) — Kara Lawson has always been a basketball trailblazer and now the Duke women’s coach has a legit chance to lead USA to another gold medal.
She has already done it once.
Lawson guided the Americans to a 3-on-3 Olympic gold medal and could have the chance to lead the USA’s 5-on-5 squad at the Los Angeles Games in three years. First up is coaching the U.S. AmeriCup team that begins play this weekend in Chile.
Coaching is something she wanted to do since she was a young girl growing up in Virginia. She just didn't know it would be for her country.
“I played for a long time, and, so I got into coaching a little bit later just because I had a long playing career, which is as a good excuse as any to get into coaching later,” Lawson quipped during an interview with The Associated Press. “So I was always drawn to it. I just didn’t know what my entry point was.”
She just thought the entry point might be at the high school level as the WNBA didn’t exist and college wasn’t something she strived to do.
Fast forward 37 years and she’s in charge of the group of college players heading to South America.
“I’m fortunate enough to be assigned something as important as America’s head coach, my goal is to do the best job possible,” Lawson said during a break as she prepared her team for the World Cup qualifying tournament.
The 44-year-old Lawson could become the second African American to lead the USA women's Olympic basketball team. Dawn Staley was the women's head coach for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Lawson was a point guard at Tennessee and credits her time learning under iconic Lady Vols Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt as a big reason for her recent success roaming the sidelines.
“If you wanna learn how to coach, why not go to the best coach,” Lawson said.
Lawson has had success already with USA Basketball, leading the 3-on-3 team to a gold medal at the Tokyo Games. She didn't want to look at this opportunity as a tryout to be the 2028 Olympic coach or even next year's World Cup where she is on the short list to be the next head coach. That decision will be made by Sue Bird, who took over as the new national team managing director earlier this year.
“In my experience in life, if you just keep that mindset of being in the moment, more opportunities tend to happen for you,” said Lawson, who helped the USA win gold in 2008 at the Bejing Games, where she and Bird were teammates. “And if you’re so worried about where you fit and who goes where, and am I next in line? I just never found that to to be productive and drives you crazy and it’s a waste of energy.
"So I try to just lock in on like, ‘what do I need to do at this job to be really good?’ ”
Lawson's path to coaching wasn't the one many have taken. She went from playing 13 years in the WNBA to becoming a broadcaster. From there, she spent some time with the Boston Celtics as an assistant before getting the Duke job in 2020.
She led Duke to its first ACC Tournament championship under her coaching this past March and the Blue Devils made a run to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. The team has advanced further in the NCAAs each of the past three seasons.
Coaching in the AmeriCup is a full circle moment for Lawson. She played in the AmeriCup in 2007, which was also in Chile, and helped the U.S. win it and qualify for the Beijing Olympics the next year.
Now she'll try and lead the team to another victory and the automatic berth to the World Cup next year in Germany.
“I think the mentality for every team is to win,” Lawson said. “Our group understands that we’re on the lower end of the experience totem pole entering this competition and that we’re going to face some very good teams. So the race is on for us to gain continuity, pick up our playbook as quickly as we can and get on the same page.”
She knows the pressure that comes with coaching a USA team. Anything less than a gold medal is considered a failure. Lawson doesn't let the lofty expectations create additional pressure on her.
DeLisha Milton-Jones was a teammate of Lawson's on the 2007 AmeriCup team and now is coaching with her. She's been impressed with what she's seen so far from Lawson as a coach.
“She has a knack for the game,” Milton-Jones said. “Kara is well versed when it comes to the game. Started off at an early age going to games with her father. Going to college and being coached by one of the greatest ever to coach. Having experiences from NBA, WNBA, international side of things.”
In the AmeriCup, Lawson will be coaching some of the most talented players in women's college basketball, including Flau’Jae Johnson (LSU), Olivia Miles (TCU), Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame), Madison Booker (Texas), Joyce Edwards (South Carolina) and Raegan Beers (Oklahoma).
Lawson has made an impression.
“The intensity she brings every day, you feel it like that’s a pro right there,” Johnson said. “Just learning from her I learned so much in these (few) days, it’s been amazing.”
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