MIAMI – Caitlin Clark grew up watching the greatness of Maya Moore, Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi dominate the world stage with USA Basketball.
One day she imagined following in their footsteps and representing the red, white and blue teams in international competitions.
So, before Clarke heads to the practice field in Miami on Saturday to prepare for the FIBA Women’s World Cup qualifying tournament, memories of the journey up to that point are starting to come back to us.
She recalled when her U-16 team walked into a room at USA Basketball headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado, that was filled with Legends jerseys.
For some, it was a glorified storage room, filled with boxes, racks and racks.
But for Clark, it meant something much more.
“I remember when I was a kid, my eyes were so wide,” Clark said. “I thought that was the coolest thing in the world – all the senior national team jerseys of all these great players and all these really great female players – and we’re 15, 16 years old and obviously dream of being able to do this one day.”
That time has come.
Clark, Paige Bueckers and Angel Reyes — three of the WNBA’s newest faces — were among a group of players who made their USA Basketball debuts on Wednesday in a World Cup qualifier in Puerto Rico with a 110-46 win over Senegal.
Clark finished with 17 points and 12 assists. Bueckers had nine points and four rebounds while Reese had six points and eight boards.
The roster — Bird’s first since she was named the first managing director of the U.S. women’s national team in May — includes a mix of veteran leaders, such as Chelsea Gray, Kahleigh Cooper and Kelsey Bloom, and youngsters. Bird was excited to see the team in action on Wednesday.
“We have a great group,” Bird said. “I keep joking, I’ve been doing this for 20 years on napkins, so it was nice to have a real menu.”
Navisa Collier, Aja Wilson, Sabrina Ionescu and Brianna Stewart are among the notable absentees due to scheduling conflicts or various other reasons. Stewart trained with the team in Miami but returned to New York on Sunday to rest before heading abroad next month for a short stint with Fenerbahce Opet, who plays in the European League.
The United States has already qualified for the 2026 World Cup, so the stakes in this upcoming tournament are not necessarily high.
However, Bird believes this is a “fantastic opportunity” for some new players to play international basketball, a different style to what they may be used to.
“Globally, you have to understand that when you wear this shirt, it’s different,” Bird said. “People come to you differently.”
Those who have played for junior national teams know how rare the opportunity to get a call-up to the senior team is.
Clark said she played on three junior national teams, including two under-19 teams. Her absence from the list for the Paris 2024 Games sparked controversy. But Clark said she’s enjoying every step of this journey.
“Obviously this is everyone’s dream,” she said.
Clark, Rees, and Bueckers competed against each other for some time. But this will be the first time they will share the field as teammates.
“It’s going to be really cool,” Reese said. “So I’m really excited. Obviously 2028 is a very long way away [off]But just being able to have this moment now, I think is really important.
The trio knows there is a sense of honor and pride that comes with playing in USA Basketball. They are well aware of their eight consecutive Olympic gold medals as well as the Americans winning four consecutive World Cups (11 total).
“You just have to stay humble and grounded while also using that as motivation to keep wanting to get better [and] “To continue to build on what the people who came before us built,” Bickers said. “They set the stage for what we want this to look like and competing, winning, just the pride and feeling of passion that you have to wear USA gear, so it means a lot but again, those are just words. We want to put action behind that and really follow through on that.”