Clark, Bueckers on USA roster for FIBA World Cup

USA Basketball's long-awaited youth movement is here, as Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese and Aliyah Boston will make their first USA appearances at a major international competition next month at the FIBA World Cup in Germany. The 12-player women's national team, which USA Basketball announced Thursday morning, is also headlined by A'ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart, who have combined for six WNBA MVP awards and have each won World Cup and Olympic MVP honors. Napheesa Collier, Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young, Kahleah Copper and Rhyne Howard round out the roster. The players -- who will seek the program's 12th World Cup gold medal and fifth-straight -- were selected by national team managing director Sue Bird and approved by the USA Basketball Board of Directors. "I'm so excited to announce the 2026 USA Basketball Women's National Team," Bird said in a statement. "This is an incredibly talented group that has earned the opportunity to compete in Berlin. Wearing a USA jersey is a privilege, and I know these 12 players will embrace that responsibility as we go after another gold medal. I can't wait to see what this team accomplishes together." "It's great to have a team and to have a roster," national team coach Kara Lawson said in a statement. "It's been a long process to whittle it down to 12 players, and I think that speaks to just the talent we have in our country across the board. These 12 have earned it through their play and their consistency. I couldn't be more excited about working with each of them, and I've had good experience with each of them... I know what they're capable of, and I know that this is a group that's ready for the challenges that are ahead." Wilson, Stewart, Plum, Gray and Copper suited up for USA at the 2022 World Cup, with Plum, Stewart and Wilson also on the 2018 squad. Those five plus Collier and Young all won gold with USA at the 2024 Olympics in Paris; Wilson, Stewart, Collier, Gray and Plum (3x3) are all multi-time Olympic gold medalists. It'll be just the second major international competition for USA Basketball without either Bird or Diana Taurasi since the 2000 Olympics. The USA squad for Berlin features four 24-year-olds and seven players who will be under 30 at the time of the competition; Gray is the eldest at 33. Though newcomers to the senior team, Boston, Bueckers, Clark and Howard all won gold with USA Basketball at FIBA junior competitions earlier in their careers. The evaluation period included national team camps in December at Duke University and in April at the Phoenix Final Four. The USA national team also competed at the FIBA Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament in March, where they went 5-0; eight members of that roster -- Bueckers, Clark (who was named MVP), Copper, Gray, Howard, Plum, Reese and Young -- are headed to Berlin. Plum and Collier made the cut despite missing most of the WNBA season so far due to injury. Plum has appeared in 14 games while dealing with lower leg injuries and returned on Sunday after being sidelined since late June. Collier had two offseason ankle surgeries and made her season debut in late July. The team will be led by Lawson and assistants Natalie Nakase, Nate Tibbetts and Stephanie White, with Jose Fernandez and Tia Jackson serving as scout coaches. The U.S. faces China (Sept. 4), Italy (Sept. 6) and Czechia (Sept. 7) in group play before moving on to the knockout rounds. The tournament will run from Sept. 4-13, and the WNBA season will pause from Aug. 31-Sept. 16. The roster: Aliyah Boston, Indiana Fever Paige Bueckers, Dallas Wings Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx Kahleah Copper, Phoenix Mercury Chelsea Gray, Las Vegas Aces Rhyne Howard, Atlanta Dream Kelsey Plum, Phoenix Mercury Angel Reese, Atlanta Dream Breanna Stewart, New York Liberty A'ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces Jackie Young, Las Vegas Aces