Kara Lawson, after being named the U.S. women’s national team head coach, covered a range of topics about her basketball career while visiting with NBC.
This interview has been lightly edited.
OlympicTalk: I read you were on the TODAY show as a kid. What’s the story behind that?
Lawson: I was a youth football player, and they had me and my dad on the TODAY show. I flew out to New York, and I had a chance to be on the show. I was in third grade, so maybe 7 or 8 years old. It was like 1988. Deborah Norville interviewed us.
OlympicTalk: I was looking at your USA Basketball player bio. You played at the 2001 World University Games. Then your next national team tournament was in 2007. Did you ever have any doubts in the mid-2000s about your future with the national team?
Lawson: I was working toward it. I wouldn’t say doubts. I mean, when I played in the World University Games, I was 20 years old. It’s very difficult — if you look at the history of the Olympic team — for someone early 20s to make it, right? That typically happens later, mid to late 20s for most players. There have been a couple supernovas that play young.
I knew that I wasn’t at my peak yet as a player. I was called into some camps in 2006. That gave me a lot of confidence, and then ultimately selected for the AmeriCup team in 2007 and then the Olympic team in 2008. I think that was about right for me in terms of when I got out of college, I wasn’t one of the top players in the WNBA right away. I think you build and continue your work and try to keep growing and keep becoming better as a player, and then hopefully get a chance to train with the national team. And that’s what I got in 2006 and then was able to take advantage of it.
OlympicTalk: You were one of the last three players named to the 2008 Olympic team. What were you thinking before those spots were named? Were you confident that you’d make it?
Lawson: I know I played well, and I knew during the time that I spent over the last couple years with the national team, when I was called into camp, that I had played well, so I was content with either outcome. I think your job as a player is to do the best that you can do and then live with the result. That’s our life, right? You do the best you can do in the games, you live with the result. So I felt confident that I had done my best and felt good about it heading into Beijing.
OlympicTalk: What’s the toughest loss you’ve taken as a player or coach?
Lawson: I think season-ending losses are always hard. I don’t know if there’s one that stands out above the rest, but if you’re lucky enough to win the championship, that’s rare. So I think just season-ending losses in general when your team is knocked out of a high school tournament or knocked out of a college tournament or losing in a series in the WNBA. Those are all challenging.
OlympicTalk: The most satisfying win?
Lawson: Definitely the Olympic level has been the most satisfying wins that I’ve had to this point. Winning the gold-medal game in Beijing as a player, leading the 3x3 team to a gold in Tokyo, and then last summer in Paris being assistant coach for our national team to win the gold.
OlympicTalk: You and Sue Bird mentioned that she offered you the job by phone while you were in two different airports. Did you have a formal interview before that? Can you share anything about those initial conversations?
Lawson: I had talked with her before that call. We just really talked basketball. It wasn’t a lot about the process. It was just about how you see the game and the players and the program and all of those things.
OlympicTalk: How do you see the program?
Lawson: I think the program is in a great spot. I think we have some established veterans that are playing at a high level and have won a lot for USA Basketball. And then I think we have some precocious youngsters that are playing at a really high level, entering the league and doing really well.
So I think the talent pool is as deep as it’s ever been, and it’s going to be really difficult to make a 12-player roster for for the U.S., but that’s always been the case. It’s the hardest roster to make in the world.
OlympicTalk: If you could change one thing about international basketball — Olympics or otherwise — what would you change?
Lawson: I don’t know that I’d change anything. I like the setup. I wish all the countries had a little more time in the lead up to it, for sure, stopping the WNBA season, and a little more lead up going into the World Cup or going into the Olympics. But that’s just a coach talking, right? You would like that time to prepare.
OlympicTalk: I read that you memorized things like the list of presidents and NFL quarterbacks growing up. I was reminded of that when, at the start of your introductory press conference, you listed every U.S. Olympic women’s basketball head coach. How long have you known that list by heart?
Lawson: From the beginning. I mean, you’re just adding one every four years. So it’s not that difficult. I was born in 1981, so I knew the list probably when I set the goal of playing college basketball in fifth, sixth grade. Once I started taking interest in the sport of basketball, and knew that’s what I wanted to play, I think it’s really important to know the history, know what you’re working toward.
OlympicTalk: Did you see the 1996 Olympic team play in person, either at the Atlanta Games or in the lead-up tour?
Lawson: I think they came to George Washington. My dad took me to watch. It might have been an open practice.
