The United States women’s basketball team is continuing to add quality talent. It has veteran campaigner and WNBA star Kelsey Plum very positive moving forward.
In December, USA Women’s Basketball held a training camp in North Carolina as it got the ball rolling in preparing for future tournaments it is set to compete in. The camp consisted of a mix of veteran Team USA players like Plum and newcomers like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers.
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The camp gave Plum a better perspective on where the US basketball program is at and heading to. Speaking on the Post Moves podcast of Candace Parker and Aliyah Boston, Plum shared her thoughts on USA Women’s Basketball, highlighting that it is on solid footing.
“I mean they (new faces) can hoop. They can hoop. It’s definitely different though because like my whole USA basketball experience I was like the young buck, right? So it was weird like being at camp and being, like, where is everyone you know?” the Los Angeles Sparks All-Star guard said.
“Um, like, but at the same time it is cool because it just shows like United States basketball is just unbelievably talented and I know like there’s always talk about, like, you know, the game and this and that and whatever, but I would say on the women’s side like it’s just the talent just keeps pouring in. Like it’s unbelievable,” she added.
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Dominant run by Team USA
US women’s basketball has remained formidable all this time amid improvements by other national teams. Its dominance cannot be more evident than at the Olympic Games, where it has been the champion in the last eight iterations of the quadrennial meet.
In the previous edition in Paris in 2024, bannered by WNBA stars A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Plum and Napheesa Collier, Team USA went undefeated, culminating in a gritty 67-66 victory over France in the gold medal game.
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While the US is on firm footing in women’s hoops, Plum underscored the need to continue shoring up their game in line with international play, particularly for those coming up through the ranks, to ensure the high-caliber play of Team USA is maintained.
“If you’ve never played FIBA or haven’t watched, you are playing a different sport. So, like, prepare your mind… That’s something that you just have to be aware of and the way you practice is I think super important,” the two-time WNBA champion pointed out.
The next major international tournament for Team USA is the FIBA Women’s World Cup, scheduled for September 2026 in Berlin, Germany. The US will try to win a fifth straight title.
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High on France
Plum and Team USA had themselves a battle with France in the gold medal game in the 2024 Olympics and she sees the French continuing to be a handful in the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
“I think France is super skilled, athletic, fast, they have players in the W (WNBA) that play overseas. I think that they’ve been just growing tremendously as a basketball country… The gold medal game, it was like a possession from being different in outcome, right? So, like you can’t take that for granted,” she said.
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Among the notable French players now are Gabby Wiiliams, Marine Johannes, Iliana Rupert, Leila Lacan, Marine Fauthoux and Dominique Malonga.
With the way things stand, Team USA should remain a force in women’s basketball. But the fact that it is not resting on its laurels and continuing to sharpen its program makes it all the better.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Jan 28, 2026, where it first appeared in the International section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.