USA Basketball has named Duke head coach Kara Lawson the head coach of the women's national team through the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the organization announced on Monday.

“I am honored to be selected as the head coach of the Women’s National Team for this cycle,” Lawson said in a release. “I want to thank Sue Bird, General Dempsey and the USA Basketball Board of Directors, Jim Tooley and Briana Gould for this tremendous opportunity.”

Lawson played 12 years in the WNBA and spent one season as an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics before taking the Duke job in 2020. The Blue Devils played only four games in her first year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but the program has had increasingly better finishes each season since. After not making the NCAA Tournament in 2022, the 2023 Blue Devils advanced to the second round. In 2024, they lost to UConn in a competitive Sweet 16 game, before making the Elite Eight in 2025.

“I will work tirelessly to uphold the standards of this storied program,” she continued. “There is no greater honor in our sport than to be chosen to lead the U.S. women in world competition. I understand the responsibility and the challenges that lie ahead. I look forward to meeting them head on.”

Article Continues Below

Bird, who is the managing director for USA Basketball Women’s National Team, said she is “excited” to welcome Lawson.

“Having shared the court with her, I know firsthand the leadership, competitive spirit and basketball IQ that she brings,” Bird said. “Kara has always had the respect of her teammates and her players, something she has earned and demonstrated over decades with USA Basketball as a player, 3×3 coach and assistant coach. I can’t wait to work with her and continue to build on the tradition of excellence that USA Basketball stands for.”

Lawson takes the job with a solid Olympic pedigree already in place. She won a gold medal as a player in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, then served as an assistant coach to Cheryl Reeve in Paris last summer. In the 2020 Olympics, she led the women's 3×3 team to a gold medal in Tokyo.