US women's basketball future looks bright, but the rest of the world is closing the talent gap

PARIS (AP) — U.S. women’s basketball players have been saying for years that winning in the Olympics isn't easy and France showed at the Paris Games that their comments are more than just rhetoric to keep fans interested.

The rest of the world is catching up to the U.S., though Olympic gold should continue to run through America.

The future for USA Basketball looks bright with A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart in their prime. Then there also is a extremely talented young group of players who say they want to be in the pipeline, led by Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers and Juju Watkins.

They could help anchor the national team, which is in a bit of a transition with the retirement of Diana Taurasi, who finished her career with a record six gold medals.

The Americans captured their record eighth Olympic gold medal Sunday by the narrowest of margins with a 67-66 victory over France. The U.S. won its six games in the tournament by an average of 15.7 points — the lowest during its streak.

“The parity of women’s basketball is just only continuing to grow,” Stewart said. “So I think, you know, we know it’s not easy.”

France became the first team to come within a hair of beating the U.S in the Olympics during its record 61-game winning streak that dates back to the 1992 Barcelona Games. Only two other teams had come within single digits of the Americans in those 32 years.

“Maybe they won’t say it’s just easy and we walk in and just win gold,” said U.S. center Brittney Griner. who broke down in tears when she was presented her third gold medal. “Maybe they’ll stop saying that, because, like I said, we see everybody’s best shot. And we saw the shot that France gave us.”

The U.S. will get homecourt during the 2028 Olympics, which will be held in Los Angeles. The Americans had played the last two gold medal games against teams from the host nation.

Griner said “we'll see” when asked if she'll be playing in the Los Angeles Games.

Even if she doesn't decide to play — she'll be 37 at that point— the U.S. should return its top two stars Stewart and Wilson, who are only 29 and 28 years old respectively.

The pair could potentially play in a few more Olympics. With the exception of Taurasi, no one on this year’s Olympic team would be older than 37 by the time the 2028 Olympics happen.

“I think being able to learn from a lot of the veteran players here, knowing it’s kind of my time and a lot of our times that, this younger generation is able to kind of take this legacy and continue to push forward and go for nine,” said Sabrina Ionescu, who earned her first Olympic gold medal. “This is a program that has always sort of made it look easy. But I always said it’s not.”

The major question potentially is who will be coaching the team in Los Angeles.

Cheryl Reeve could come back to coach the team, although it's extremely rare that a coach does a second stint. Only Geno Auriemma, who coached in 2012 and 2016, has done that.

If the U.S. goes another direction, there's a few potential candidates. Assistant Kara Lawson, who won gold as a player in 2008 and also guided the inaugural 3x3 U.S. team in 2021 to first place could be on the list. A trio of WNBA coaches have experience with USA Basketball: Curt Miller, Stephanie White and Tanisha Wright also could be considered.

A dark horse could be Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon. She hasn't been involved with USA Basketball at all yet and played for Russia in the 2008 Olympics. Yet no WNBA coach has been more successful the last few years than Hammon, who has led the Aces to back-to-back WNBA championships.

With the Aces' core of Wilson, Kelsey Plum, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young potentially back in 2028, Hammon would certainly have their endorsement.

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

United States' A'ja Wilson (9) grabs a loose ball in front of Janelle Salaun (13), of France, during a women's gold medal basketball game at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

United States' Diana Taurasi reacts after winning her sixth gold medal at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

The United States team poses for a picture with their gold medals at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

United States' A'ja Wilson, (9) shoots for a basket as Marieme Badiane (22), attempts tp block, during a women's gold medal basketball game between the United States and France at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in Paris, France. (Gregory Shamus/Pool Photo via AP)

The United States team poses for a picture with their gold medals at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Rams are off to their first 0-2 start to a season since before Les Snead became their general manager 12 years ago.

They're coming off their worst loss under coach Sean McVay, a 41-10 thrashing from an Arizona Cardinals team the Rams had thoroughly dominated in McVay's eight-year career.

The Rams' extensive injury problems already encompass their top two receivers, their entire offensive line and two key members of their secondary.

And now they're about to play their biggest rivals and toughest opponents in McVay's career: The powerhouse San Francisco 49ers visit SoFi Stadium on Sunday.

Outside of an injury to Matthew Stafford, who's fully healthy, it's tough to imagine a way in which the first two weeks could have gone a whole lot worse for McVay or the team he led to six winning records in his first seven seasons.

“This league, nobody cares,” McVay said. “I feel terrible for those (injured) guys, and we certainly care, but the outside world doesn’t, and the games are going to go on.”

The Rams have fallen apart just two weeks into a season that began with hopes of playoff contention, even without retired star Aaron Donald.

Instead, the Rams are struggling to field a competitive team after just two games. The whole scenario has strong echoes of the 2022 season, when McVay's team went 5-12 amid major injury woes in the worst season by a defending Super Bowl champion in NFL history.

Several of the Rams' most important players will watch Sunday's game in street clothes. The injured list now includes receivers Puka Nacua (knee) and Cooper Kupp (ankle); starting offensive linemen Steve Avila (knee), Jonah Jackson (shoulder) and Joseph Noteboom (ankle); and starting defensive backs Darious Williams (hamstring) and John Johnson (shoulder). Several other key contributors will be playing hurt, including starting offensive linemen Kevin Dotson and Rob Havenstein.

“We’ve had some unfortunate breaks,” McVay said drily. “It’s nothing like I’ve been exposed to. This is unique, but this is an opportunity for us to be what we say we want to be.”

The Rams addressed their defense in last spring's draft, and the earliest returns are promising. Snead used his top two picks on Florida State's Jared Verse and Braden Fiske, and both have been key contributors in the front seven. Verse is already a problem on the edge, with four tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble in his first two NFL games. Third-round safety Kam Kinchens could be up for more playing time in Johnson's absence as well.

The Rams rebuilt their offensive line in the offseason to be tough up the middle, protecting Stafford and keying their running game. With two of those interior O-line starters out and a third playing injured, that plan will have to be set aside indefinitely. No team can have a backup plan for as many injuries as the Rams are facing on the line, but their backup tackles have not been sharp. They'll count on rookie Beaux Limmer, who played every snap at center last weekend, to step up again in Jackson's absence.

Safety Quentin Lake has led the Rams in tackles in each of the first two games, although that's also a criticism of Los Angeles' poor play at the line of scrimmage, as McVay noted. The Rams have allowed 394 yards rushing already this season.

The Rams' decision to dump linebacker Ernest Jones right before the regular season for a minuscule 2026 late-round draft pick upgrade looks even weirder now that Troy Reeder and Christian Rozeboom are struggling to fill his shoes with much less ability and talent. McVay and Snead have yet to provide an explanation for why the Rams didn't just allow their leading tackler to play out his rookie contract for 2024, and Los Angeles' linebacker play has been noticeably bad.

On top of the new injuries for Kupp, Jackson and Johnson, Rams rookie kicker Joshua Karty injured his groin. McVay said that injury isn't thought to be serious.

32 — The Rams' NFL rank in total defense after allowing 426.0 yards per game this season. Everyone suspected the defense would need a complete reset after losing Donald and coordinator Raheem Morris, but rookie coordinator Chris Shula's group has been bad, even with marginally better injury luck than the offense.

The Rams will be significant underdogs against the Niners, who have won 10 of McVay's past 13 regular-season meetings with Kyle Shanahan. If they can avoid losing several more starters to injury, they'll have a chance to regroup against less daunting opponents in the following few weeks.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Tyler Johnson (18) runs against the Arizona Cardinals during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) throws in the pocket against the Arizona Cardinals during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Tutu Atwell (5) makes a catch against Arizona Cardinals safety Jalen Thompson (34) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) runs out of the pocket against the Los Angeles Rams during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Los Angeles Rams running back Kyren Williams (23) scores a touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)