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The United States women’s basketball team opened its quest for an eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal Monday, defeating Japan, 102-76.
In the starting lineup was Diana Taurasi, who took part in the last five of those Olympic championships.
A’ja Wilson (24 points) and Breanna Stewart (22 points) are the key Americans these days — “The two best players in the world,” Taurasi calls them. And much of the pre-Olympics discussion about the team was on a player who isn’t here — WNBA rookie sensation Caitlin Clark.
The aforementioned are part of the present and future of women’s basketball in the United States, but it’s worth taking a moment to give a nod to its recent past as well.
Taurasi may be 42 now, self-admitting she is “old,” but for two decades she was a driving force in advancing the sport, playing with impressive intensity and winning titles — NCAA ones at Connecticut, WNBA ones in Phoenix and lots of international ones with Team USA.
Still, she says she isn’t here for a farewell tour, but to help the team win.
“I’m not worried about the last 20 years; I’m worried about the next 20 years,” Taurasi said.
Her presence is important to the team. Across the roster, the respect for her game and her presence is unwavering.
“I hope I can do what ‘D’ is doing,” Wilson said. “She is someone that is forever GOAT’d. Someone who has put in the time, the work, the effort, the love behind the game. It shows. And she doesn’t have to be the most vocal person. She can just be who she is. I am grateful to say I am her teammate.
“These moments, I never take for granted when I am around greatness.”
Maybe Taurasi isn’t going to be the leading scorer — two points, three rebounds, one assist on Monday. She is going to be a leader. It’s why she scoffs at suggestions she should just hang it up. Why would she?
“I’m around young people all the time and I tell them, if there is one thing you can’t escape in this country it is ageism,” Taurasi said with a laugh.
“I’ve gone back and forth on this when you dedicate your whole life, your whole career to something and you get the question, ‘Why don’t you just retire?’” she continued. “And it is something I’ve been doing since I was 5. It is something I’ve dedicated my whole life to.
“It is just so easy for a question to be brought up in a manner where it is not meant to be disrespectful, but if you are the person being asked it is a bit disrespectful. I am here to compete. I’m here to play at a high level. I’m here to give to my teammates. And I’m here to win a gold medal. And that’s it.”
Taurasi still has game, of course. Maybe not the WNBA MVP level of the past, but this is still the player that inspired Kobe Bryant to become a big women’s basketball fan. She is a star regardless, but if women’s basketball was as popular two decades ago as it is now, she would have been huge.
And she still belongs.
She has found herself talking with LeBron James, who at 39 and playing in his fourth Games.
“We started at the Olympics together in 2004,” she said before laughing. “He skipped a couple, by the way …
“We talk about what’s next in life all the time,” Taurasi continued. “There is still that competition that fuels us. And like I said, it’s hard to let go. It’s hard to let go.
“And we’re still holding on tight.”
And going after one more gold medal.