USA basketball players juggle motherhood and chasing 8th gold medal at Paris Olympics

PARIS — In the most important contest involving USA Basketball at the 2024 Paris Olympics everyone got … a participation trophy?

No, you didn’t misread that. Has Team USA gone soft? Not quite.

When USA Basketball held the Paris Toddler Olympics halfway through the 2024 Games and invited all the kids of NBA and WNBA superstars here to participate, everyone knew it would be entertaining. And in order to keep the peace, a decision was made to make sure everyone felt victorious after an obstacle course that included jumping, crawling, rolling over, tagging a foam roller, putting basketballs away, going under a chair and figuring out how to move a Bosu ball.

“Everyone medaled,” said Breanna Stewart, mom of two. “Everyone actually got a gold medal.”

There’s a decidedly family feel to these Olympics, as nearly a dozen kids roam the USA Basketball hotel in Paris. Eight of the kids belong to moms on the U.S. women’s rosters (both 5-on-5 and 3x3), a stark contrast from the Tokyo Games three years ago when just two moms made the roster and had to leave their children at home because of COVID-19 protocols that limited fans.

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“It’s amazing to share this with her,” said Napheesa Collier, whose 2-year-old daughter Mila is here. “Obviously she doesn’t really understand it right now, but to have those memories for me and then when she gets older, it’s so special.”

The U.S. women look to continue their Olympic hoops dynasty Wednesday when they take on Nigeria in the quarterfinals at Bercy Arena. The winner advances to Friday’s semifinals, and will meet either Australia or Serbia. The Americans are seeking an unprecedented eighth consecutive gold medal.

Now that the team has moved to Paris full-time and will be around the kids more, the moms will have even more to juggle. Like players, the families spent the last week going back and forth between Paris and Lille, the city in northern France that hosted pool play. The team would go up the night before and families would do a day trip to watch the games. It’s just an hour train ride between the two — but it can feel longer when a sleep-deprived toddler has a meltdown.

Players brought extended families and nannies to help corral all the kids, but at the end of the day, sometimes they only want mom.

Diana Taurasi, the elder stateswoman of Team USA’s roster, has two children with wife Penny Taylor: 2-year-old Isla and 6-year-old Leo. The whole family has been watching from the stands, though Taylor, herself a former WNBA All-Star and Australian Olympian, doesn’t actually get to watch much of the action in real time because she’s busy wrangling the kids. She’s more likely, Taurasi said laughing, to watch the game later when Taurasi is reviewing film.

“It’s been so cool to see Chelsea, Stewie, Phee, all of them become moms,” Taurasi said of her teammates. “It’s amazing what they’re able to do and how they make it the norm more than anything.”

Stewart’s toddler, 2-year-old Ruby, will celebrate her third birthday in Paris on Aug. 9, the day after A’ja Wilson celebrates her 28th. Stewart joked that everyone from USA basketball will be invited to Ruby’s party, but it’s likely to be Paw Patrol themed and include juice. Wilson said hers is likely to include juice, too, to mix in alcohol.

Paris marks the first time Ruby and Isla, Taurasi and Taylor’s daughter who is just two months younger than Ruby, have met. They’ve become fast friends, so much so that when Ruby woke up the other morning, she had only one question for Stewart and her wife, Marta Xargay: “Where’s Isla?” It was time to play.

As for who the favorite non-mom on Team USA is, there was no question: All the kids gravitate toward New York guard Sabrina Ionescu, who each mom said she’d hire as a nanny. Ionescu called it an honor to be chosen for that role.

“To be able to see what all these moms are able to do in terms of be on the court, be fully present there, try to win a gold medal and then we go back to the hotel and they’re full-time moms who don’t get a break, that’s amazing,” Ionescu said. “I can’t really put into words how strong these women are.”

Multiple players, moms and not, have commented on the chaos of the USA basketball hotel, which has felt like a daycare with so many kids running around (and more expected to arrive now that medal rounds are starting).

Brittney Griner is the newest parent on the roster, with baby boy Bash born last month. Griner said her wife, Cherelle, will travel to Paris but their newborn is staying home.

U.S. coach Cheryl Reeve, who also coaches the Minnesota Lynx, has seen a major evolution over the last two decades in the way professional athletes who want to be moms are treated, especially in the WNBA. The current CBA includes a bevy of fertility benefits, guarantees a player on maternity leave will receive their full salary and includes a childcare stipend, among other parenthood perks. Players in early iterations of the WNBA might have felt they had to finish their career before having children. The W has prided itself on creating a work environment where players' families are welcome, and players who want to become parents have support.

Reeve said the league has set an important standard in this regard, and USAB — and the Olympics as a whole — has benefitted.

“I think it’s been a great development,” said Reeve, whose 9-year-old son Oliver is also on the trip. Oliver is a bit of basketball junkie, having seen each of his mom's 470 games with the Lynx. She said he enjoys a postgame breakdown with her, especially if it involves discussing the officials. During the Americans' pool play win over Belgium, his goal was to scream louder than the 27,000-plus people who packed into the arena to root for Belgium.

“When I first got into the league, we didn’t have a lot of (moms)," Reeve said. "The longer we’re around, the more we’re understanding how we can navigate those spaces. We’re evolving as a society … and women are showing us they can be anything and do anything."

That goes for the youngest at the Games, too. Collier predicted that if there was ice cream at the finish line of the Toddler Olympics, Mila would finish first no matter how challenging the course.

Sadly, Mila missed the entire competition because it got scheduled during nap time.

Email Lindsay Schnell at lschnell@usatoday.com and follow her on social media @Lindsay_Schnell

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: USA basketball players juggle motherhood and chasing 8th gold medal at Paris Olympics