Diana Taurasi awarded Team USA starting lineup place for Olympics opener vs Japan despite concerns

Team USA women's basketball kept Diana Taurasi in its starting lineup for its Paris Olympics opener against Japan on Monday, a 102-76 win in which the Americans led the whole way. Despite starting, Taurasi played only 15 minutes and scored two points.

Taurasi, 42, is a legendary American basketball figure. Yet her quiet outing in a final tune-up game against Germany last week elevated concerns about her place in Team USA's lineup , considering the other stellar backcourt options available.

Those alternatives include Sabrina Ionescu, Kelsey Plum, Kahleah Copper, Jewell Loyd and Jackie Young. Taurasi delivered five points on 2-of-5 shooting in the recent friendly victory against Germany leading up to the Olympics. Her 2024 WNBA numbers trail some of her international teammates.

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Before Monday's game, though, Taurasi hit back at suggestions that she didn't belong in a prominent Team USA role anymore . "Especially in women's sports, in women's professions, only a woman would have 20 years of experience, and it's an Achilles heel instead of something that is treasured and used as a way forward for our sport and for women," Taurasi told reporters. "Hopefully, we can change that narrative."

Head coach Cheryl Reeve enlisted Taurasi, Chelsea Gray, Napheesa Collier, Breanna Stewart and A'ja Wilson as the full Team USA starting five against Japan. The Americans are vying for their eighth consecutive gold medal at the Games.

As a member of the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA , Taurasi has averaged 16.1 points and 4.7 rebounds in 21 games this season. The WNBA takes a break for the Olympics, with so many of its athletes competing in the Games.

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Even with the recent workload of WNBA basketball - and minor injury right before the Olympics - Taurasi has no doubt about her ability to produce for Team USA. "I'm just as addicted to basketball right now as I was when I was 15 playing in my driveway," Taurasi said to the AP this year.

"I have the same ambitions, the same passion, the same love for. I show up every single day in Phoenix at the practice facility at 7:30 a.m. ready to go. That's how I treat it."

Part of Taurasi's presence on Reeve's roster is down to the intangibles she brings. No one else can claim the vast experience the 42-year-old possesses.

"She's seen it all," said Breanna Stewart to reporters before the Olympics. "She knows exactly what to say before the coaches even come into the locker room."

After facing Japan to begin its 2024 Olympics slate, Team USA will meet Belgium on Aug. 1 and Germany on Aug. 4 to complete group stage action.