<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=07ij2y_0ugsaEzR00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=07ij2y_0ugsaEzR00" width="1400" height="788" >STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: The U.S. women's basketball team starts its Summer Olympics run this afternoon, U.S. time. My 9-year-old loves basketball, so we're getting ready. Expectations are exceedingly high. NPR's Lauren Frayer caught up with the team before they arrived in Paris.(SOUNDBITE OF BUZZER)LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE: Lebron James may be the Team USA flag bearer. But this American dad is raising his son on U.S. women's basketball with stars like Brittney Griner, A'ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart.MIKE PERRY: We were a little bit star-struck, weren't we?FELIX: Yeah.PERRY: When we - when he first...FELIX: I...PERRY: ...Walked in, weren't you?FELIX: I didn't know the stadium was going to look like this. The atmosphere was really good.FRAYER: That's Mike Perry from Massachusetts with his son Felix at a women's exhibition game last week in London. With the Olympics smack in the middle of the WNBA season, it was one of the first chances for the U.S. team to play all together, mere days before the Paris games.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #1: Are you ready?FRAYER: They had nothing to worry about.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #2: USA basketball, women's national team, 84 - Germany women's national team, 57.FRAYER: Another win in a streak that began before most of these players were born. At the Olympics, they're undefeated since 1992 and are now seeking an eighth straight gold medal. I asked coach Cheryl Reeve if she feels any pressure.CHERYL REEVE: We're a part of one of the greatest sports dynasties ever. So I think we're aware of that, but I think it's also really important that this journey is unique and special to this group. This is our first experience together.FRAYER: The first with this particular combination of players - first-time Olympians like Sabrina Ionescu and veterans like Diana Taurasi.(CHEERING)UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER #2: Taurasi.FRAYER: Now, if you think two-time gold medalist Lebron James is impressive, still playing basketball at age 39 on the same Lakers team as his son, well, consider Taurasi. She's three years older than him, has five Olympic golds and is going for a sixth.DIANA TAURASI: I'm not going into the Olympics as a farewell tour. I'm going there to try to win a gold medal with my teammates. And that's the only reason I play basketball, is to be competitive and to compete against other teams, so I feel just the same as my first one. My back's a little bit more sore, but other than that...FRAYER: The U.S. women also include 6-foot-9 Griner, who can dunk. But this is her first trip abroad since being held captive in Russia for 10 months. She's been open about her mental health struggle since and stayed on the bench last week. But Coach Reeve promises Griner will play in the Olympics. Here's her teammate, A'ja Wilson, who calls her BG.AJA WILSON: We are just trying to be around her and just help her and hug her, but at the same time, like, it's BG's world. Like, we going to let her figure it out. We always standing by her side, no matter what.FRAYER: One player you will not see at the Olympics is Caitlin Clark. She's the NCAA's all-time top scorer, now a WNBA rookie and a huge draw for fans. She didn't make the team.LINDSEY DARVIN: Not yet, right? - she's just not one of the top 12 players in the U.S. yet.FRAYER: That's Syracuse sports management professor Lindsey Darvin, who says it was an even bigger surprise that Arike Ogunbowale isn't on the squad either. She was MVP of this year's WNBA all-stars, a team that, Darwin points out, beat this Olympic squad earlier this month.DARVIN: That was a good wake-up call for these Team USA athletes. They have to take everybody super seriously.FRAYER: Teams like France, who are playing on home turf. Canada has improved. China looks pretty good. The world may be catching up to the U.S. in this sport, which could make this Olympics even more exciting. Lauren Frayer, NPR News, London.Copyright © 2024 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.</div></body>

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Undefeated at the Olympics since 1992, USA women's basketball seeks 8th straight gold

PERRY: When we - when he first... FELIX: I didn't know the stadium was going to look like this. The atmosphere was really good. FRAYER: That's Mike Perry from Massachusetts with his son Felix at a women's exhibition game last week in London. With the Olympics smack in the middle of the WNBA season, it was one of the first chances for the U.S. team to play all together, mere days before the Paris games.

Undefeated at the Olympics since 1992, USA women's basketball seeks 8th straight gold

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