Lynx quartet ready to take center stage as the Olympic curtain rises in Paris

Lynx players Napheesa Collier (USA), Bridget Carleton (Canada) and Alanna Smith (Australia) are all representing their respective countries as Olympians for the second time after each of them participated in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve embarks on her first Olympics as Team USA’s head coach after helping the Americans to gold medals as an assistant coach in both the 2016 and 2020 Olympics. 

With three of their stars and head coach set to take center stage in Paris, this summer’s women’s basketball tournament is certainly not lacking in Lynx favor. There’s already one guaranteed matchup to pit Lynx teammates against each other in group play and who knows what juicy matchups could await in the knockout stage. 

“It’s really cool that we get to experience it together even though we’re on different sides, different teams,” Carleton said. “We get to bond over the Olympic experience, the pressures that come with it, the excitement that comes around it, the nerves, the passion in playing for your country. We all understand that — me, ‘Lan and Phee, we all get how much we love playing for our country.”

Collier and Reeve weigh heavy expectations for Team USA

Despite the loss to Team WNBA in Saturday night’s historic WNBA All-Star game and just a few minutes of playing time from Collier, Reeve had good news to share during the postgame conference on Collier’s status for the Olympics. 

“Everything that she’s done to put herself in position to be ready for us, this was the next step — getting her in a game,” Reeve said. “We certainly didn’t want to overdo it. We’re really aiming for the [July 29] to make sure that we’ve got the group as we want it. I think that you’ll see, the next time we play, you’ll see a lot more from Phee, so she’s doing well.” 

Collier started and played 21 minutes in USA’s commanding 84-57 win against Germany in the team’s final exhibition game. Prior to that, Collier played just two minutes in the WNBA All-Star game and missed Minnesota’s final five games before the Olympic break due to re-aggravated plantar fasciitis in her left foot against the Connecticut Sun on July 4. 

It’s a foot injury Collier has dealt with and played through before but, with the Lynx’s solid footing atop the Western Conference standings, Minnesota opted to play the final five games before the break without its captain to give her as much time as possible to heal and get ready for the games. 

“It feels really good,” Collier said when asked about her foot before the all-star game. “Obviously, I miss being out there with the team. So to be able to participate again, it’s really fun.” 

Collier returning to the starting lineup is a great sign both for her Olympic hopes and for what the Lynx hope to achieve when the 2024 season resumes. In her first Olympic games in Tokyo, Collier was the youngest player on Team USA’s roster and saw the fewest minutes on the floor for the Americans. 

“I’m really excited. It’s such an honor every time you get picked to play for Team USA,” Collier said after her selection was announced earlier this summer. “This time is no different and to play in the Olympics, it’s the highest caliber. So I’m really honored, really excited and I can’t wait to get to Paris.”

She’s played a much more pivotal role in this cycle. In the final Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Antwerp, Belgium, Collier helped the U.S. go 3-0, led the team in scoring across those three games and was named to the tournament’s ‘All-Star Five.’

“Before, I would be happy just getting [Team USA’s] water, so happy to just be on the team,” Collier said. “This time around, obviously I hope to have a bigger role. I don’t know if I’m a vet on the team, but I feel like more of a vet than I was last time. I have three more years experience in the league and playing overseas now. All that combined just leads to [being] a better overall player. I think my basketball IQ is higher and hopefully I can showcase those skills in the Olympics.”

Team USA is joined in Group C by Belgium, Germany and Japan. They’ll open their tournament against Japan, currently ranked No. 9 in the world, on Monday, July 29. The Americans are once again the heavy favorites and anything other than a gold medal will be a failure, but there’s no doubt in Collier’s mind that the rest of the world is going to give them their best shot. 

“It’s going to take a lot,” Collier said. “The talent gets better and better every year. You want to knock down the person who’s on top and we’ve been on top for so long so I know everyone’s coming for blood. We have the 12 most talented players in the entire world on our team, but we can’t take anyone lightly. It’s going to be a really, really hard competition. It’s going to be really tough.”  

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Carleton and Smith clash in Group B

An undeniable storyline from the first half of the WNBA season has been the emergence of Bridget Carleton as a consistent starting caliber sniper. Carleton has started all 22 games (including the Commissioner’s Cup Final) since Diamond Miller injured her knee in the third game of the season, and has played the best basketball of her career heading into her second Olympics.

“It’s always an honor to represent Canada and to go to my second Olympics, it’s pretty surreal,” Carleton said. “Like, I never thought that could be possible for me so it’s pretty cool.”

Carleton started all three games for Canada at the Tokyo Olympics and is undoubtedly one of Canada’s best and most experienced players on a roster with a lot of young talent. Team Canada has had a number of decent showings on the global stage, including a fourth place finish at the FIBA World Cup in 2022, but is still in search of its first Olympic medal in women’s basketball. Carleton and Team Canada aren’t just happy to be in Paris — for the trip to feel like a total success it will have to include its first finish on the podium. 

“That would be incredible,” Carleton said. “It’s so hard and there’s so many good teams around the world and we don’t get a ton of time together with Team Canada. But we have the athletes, we have the talent, we have the pride and passion to do it.”

Standing in the way of Carleton and Canada are Smith and Team Australia. The Australian national team is no stranger to the Olympic podium as they’ve won five Olympic medals since 1996; but for Smith and the rest of the Opals who were part of a disappointing showing at the Tokyo Olympics, bringing medal No. 6 back to Australia would go a long way in making any lingering disappointment from Tokyo disappear.

“The last Olympics for Australia [women’s basketball], it wasn’t what we wanted to do,” Smith said. “We didn’t perform how we wanted to perform. Being able to have another crack at it, especially when we have spectators and a chance to do it in front of big crowds, it’s going to be really, really cool.” 

After going 1-2 in the preliminary round in Tokyo, Australia still managed to advance to the knockout stage, narrowly advancing on a point-differential tie-breaker that sent Carleton and the Canadians home instead. Australia then lost to the U.S. in blowout fashion in the quarterfinals. 

For Smith and Team Australia, currently ranked No. 3 in the world, it’s an opportunity to get back to where the global basketball community is accustomed to seeing Australia at the end of big tournaments. 

“It’s a massive privilege to be able to represent your country on any stage,” Smith said. “I’m just so grateful that my name was called up and I get to compete with the rest of those girls and hopefully give the U.S. a run for their money somewhere along the way.”

Before Australia gets a shot against Collier, Reeve and the rest of the Americans in Paris, they’ll need to advance out of a talented Group B that not only includes Carleton and Canada, but also Nigeria and the French hosts. Both Australia and Canada advancing to the knockouts would be a treat for Lynx fans, and Carleton and Smith will first face off on Thursday, Aug. 1 in the second game of group play. 

“It’s obviously fun to see a familiar face to play against,” Carleton said. “It’s always hard, though, playing against someone you know so well and have so much admiration for and love playing with, but it’ll be fun, a good battle.”

A lot of opportunity and a lot of stakes are on the line for the four Lynx in Paris. Could an all-Lynx podium be written somewhere in the stars above the Ville-Lumière? In 2016, Minnesota Lynx representation lay claim to both the gold and silver medals, as Reeve, Seimone Augustus, Sylvia Fowles, Maya Moore and Lindsay Whalen defeated Spain and Lynx teammate Anna Cruz in the gold medal game.

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