WNBAnything Rankings 2024: Olympians to Anticipate in Paris
The WNBA may still be rolling, but attention is starting to turn to the 2024 Olympics in Paris. We take a look at some players who could light up the Olympic women's basketball tournament.
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Okay, so admittedly this is not a standard WNBAnything Rankings. There are going to be several people involved who aren't currently playing in the WNBA. But we're less than a week away from the Olympic break beginning, and my attention has been a little diverted. The 12 countries heading to Paris (or Lille at least, for the group stages) have started to name their final rosters, which has led to me thinking about who I'm anticipating watching. So here we go: 12 (ish) women's basketball players I'm most looking forward to watching in the 2024 Olympic Games.
12. Ezinne Kalu, Nigeria
This was something of a surprise to me, but a very pleasant one. Kalu hasn't been seen with Nigeria since 2021 and I thought they'd moved on, despite using more of a collective approach to handling the ball without her at the controls. At time of writing the Nigerians haven't named a final 12, but Kalu is in the initial training squad so she appears to be back in the fold. At 32 she's probably a little past her prime now, but she's always been an exciting ballhandler and creator who can attack off the dribble and run an offense. If we're honest, there's a good chance that Nigeria will show up, lose all three group games to Australia, France and Canada, and head swiftly home. But with Kalu in charge they'll be a lot more fun to watch in the process, and the chances of an upset increase.
By the way, spoiler alert, but entertaining ballhandlers is going to be something of a theme in this piece.
11. Alyssa Thomas, USA
Obviously this is low in terms of anticipating seeing the best players on Earth, but we all watch the WNBA and get to view these players on a regular basis, which reduces the appeal there. The main attraction of watching the USA in these major tournaments is to see how good they can be if everything clicks, and to wait on that slim chance of an upset defeat if anyone actually manages to push them.
However, Thomas is intriguing to me in this context because I think people have forgotten - or never noticed, due to the general American perspective of valuing the Olympics vastly higher than the World Cup - just how good Thomas was for the USA at the 2022 World Cup. After having to be convinced into joining the US pool by Cheryl Reeve, Thomas turned out to be the driving force for the US at Worlds, igniting them in the same way she often has her club teams in Connecticut or Prague. So I'm hoping to see that Thomas again on the international stage, or at least am interested to see how much she ends up at the controls rather than the guards on the squad who would be more traditional options to helm the offense.
10. Han Xu/Li Yueru, China
Okay, so I fully accept that this isn't a very creative pick from the options on China's squad, but there's reasoning here. We've been watching these two as China's twin towers for quite a while now, and we're starting to hit the point where they should be coming into their own rather than being regarded as 'prospects'. Han became something of a gimmick in New York last year with Sandy Brondello reluctant to play her, leading to occasional cameo appearances to entertain the crowd - on the rare occasions when she wasn't off with the national team at some kind of tournament. This year she decided she was better off just staying in China entirely. Li, on the other hand, has been inconsistent in Los Angeles but continues to show flashes of exciting talent.
I want to see how good these two can be after years of development and on a squad that wants to use them (albeit virtually never together, based on previous tournaments). The cohesion the Chinese play with always gives them a chance at these competitions and they have shooting talent around these pivots. They're one of several teams that will be coming in with genuine hopes of a medal.
9. Megan Gustafson, Spain
Spain are always interesting at these competitions. The roster has largely been turned over in recent years but they always remain competitive, and especially with Raquel Carrera sadly missing due to a torn ACL they'll need Gustafson to deliver. Spain's naturalised bigs invariably end up producing numbers, but the question with Gustafson is whether she's rested or rusty. She's been a bit-part in Las Vegas after a successful season with London Lions where she was effective when utilised but found herself behind Temi Fagbenle in the pecking order. Spain will use her a lot inside and need her to fight hard on the glass, plus she’s become a real threat from beyond the arc. She's certainly capable, but it's been a while since we've seen consistent production on a regular basis.
The other Spanish choice would've been Alba Torrens, now 34 and a legend of the Spanish game. Her presence on the roster isn’t quite the legacy spot that the USA reserved for Diana Taurasi, but it's starting to approach that at this point. Whether she has one last run of performances left in her legs - or at least one big game - will be fun to keep an eye on.
8. Julie Allemand/Julie Vanloo, Belgium
We all know what Emma Meesseman can do. In fact, if you've paid any attention to international basketball in recent times, you know what these two can do as well, but it feels a little different now. They have experience of genuine tournament success after winning EuroBasket Women 2023 in Slovenia last year. Vanloo now has a couple of years of experience as a lead ballhandler both with club and country, which has developed her game significantly beyond being an off-ball gunner (as we've seen in her point guard minutes with Washington this year). We also don't know exactly what we're going to get from Allemand after a late-season injury with Lyon made her a doubt for the Olympics.
So how exactly will these two balance each other out after years of playing together but differing routes to this point? Can Belgium actually threaten the USA on the biggest stage after scaring the hell out of them in the qualifying tournament in February? If they do, Meesseman will be the rock, but both these two will need to be firing right alongside her.
7. Bridget Carleton, Canada/Alanna Smith, Australia
Different countries, but a similar type of interest here. Both Carleton and Smith are having excellent seasons with the Minnesota Lynx, shooting exceptionally well from outside along with their other attributes. The question is whether they can take that level of performance to the international stage. Carleton has always been relied upon to take on a heavier load with Canada, because there's no Napheesa Collier or Kayla McBride to take the shots instead. The difficulty is maintaining anything like the level of efficiency she's had this year in Minnesota when she's a much bigger piece of the offense and has to play more on the ball. Canada will be desperately hoping that her form carries over from Lynx blue into Canadian red.
The story with Smith is a little different. Sandy Brondello has never seemed entirely convinced by her talents, whether in Phoenix or with the Opals. That's led to inconsistent minutes and usage, and the same old ageing vets often seeing the floor ahead of her. However, her performances over the last two seasons in the WNBA, at both ends of the floor, have demanded attention. If Brondello can't see that she needs to be a significant part of the Opals' gameplan then it's hard to imagine what she's been watching the last two years. Both Smith and Seattle's Ezi Magbegor could be on WNBA All-Defense teams this year, and with the length of players like Rebecca Allen and Steph Talbot on the wing, they have the potential to be scary defensively - even before considering their shooting and finishing ability on offense. In many ways this looks like the same old Australian squad that we've been seeing for years, but they have players like Smith who should be able to offer a lot more than we've often seen from them in Opals uniforms. If they actually maximised their pieces, Australia could be a real threat at this tournament.
6. Mai Yamamoto, Rui Machida, Saori Miyazaki, and just generally Japan
Every single major international tournament, it takes about two minutes of Japan's opening game to be reminded exactly how much damn fun it is to watch them play basketball. There's a constant fluidity and movement to their play, incredible chemistry and unselfishness between the players, and always a sense of speed to everything they do. Of course, they're always small and that regularly causes issues, but when they're clicking it's an absolute joy to watch. Often they're great to watch even when things aren't working.
The names picked out above are largely because it's their ballhandling guards that are the highlights. Machida was the star point guard spraying the ball around in their home Olympics in 2021, making up for her lack of scoring with incredible creativity and passing, and this will be the first time she has played for Japan since that epic triumph. She may now be behind Miyazaki as the lead point guard, while Yamamoto is even tinier than either of those two but will fire away without any fear whatsoever (and carried their offense through the qualifying tournament). Pick whichever player you want, but watch this team play. You won't regret it.
5. Marine Johannès, France
This is another obvious pick, sorry, but I could hardly leave her out. Johannès is a born entertainer on the basketball court, and having missed her in the WNBA so far this year it'll be nice to see her light up a home Olympics. A threat to score from anywhere, or to throw a pass behind her back or over her head (or into the fifth row) at any moment, she's a wonderfully unpredictable talent. The French will need her at her best, even on a team with plenty of skilled options.
Despite all the talented pieces, France do have a tendency to fall into passive sequences where the offense seems to run out of ideas. That's when they often need someone with the fire of a Johannès or a Gabby Williams to grab games by the scruff of the neck and make things happen. The French are sometimes a success at major tournaments and occasionally a disaster, but rarely are they dull. Johannès is a central part of assuring that entertainment.
4. Satou Sabally/Alexis Peterson, Germany
While we're making the obvious picks here's another, alongside someone who may be more of a surprise. Sabally is a gifted basketball player we've sadly seen far too little of in the WNBA due to a variety of injuries. A separated shoulder that eventually required surgery - suffered while helping drag Germany through the qualifying tournament to reach this Olympics - means we haven't seen her on the court in the US at all this season. Hopefully, she's recovering and will offer something like her best in Paris, because that player is one of the most versatile and dangerous players around.
A couple of years ago, Germany were particularly intriguing because all their best players were bigs and head coach Lisa Thomaidis decided to deal with this by essentially playing all of them anyway. Now they're intriguing because of what they've added to that group. Satou gives them a potential star and on-ball creation, while her sister Nyara Sabally (again, if healthy) deepens the group even more inside. Alongside that they've naturalised themselves a ballhandling guard in Alexis Peterson, who was a star at Syracuse and has had a couple of WNBA glimpses while producing in Europe. If this group is complete and can stay in one piece, it's going to be interesting to see what they can put together at this tournament.
Also, Germany are hosting part of EuroBasket Women 2025 and all of the 2026 FIBA Women's World Cup. So they have a lot invested in women's basketball in the upcoming years, and a strong push with a competitive team could be huge for the game in Germany.
3. Syla Swords, Canada/Isobel Borlase, Australia/Leila Lacan, France
Part of the fun of tournaments like these, especially for those of us who primarily focus on the WNBA, is watching the young players coming through. Swords is yet to even appear for Michigan, where she'll be a freshman in the 2024/25 season. She didn't look overawed or out of place at all in February's qualifying tournament after making her senior team debut at last year’s Americup, and it's good to see her as part of the squad again, even if it'll mostly be for the experience and development rather than to play significant minutes. Borlase similarly played a little in the qualifying games and fit right in. After a strong season in the WNBL and being drafted by the Atlanta Dream, she gets another chance to fight for some minutes on the wing. Another 2024 draftee, Lacan is again part of the French squad after appearing at EuroBasket Women last year and may have more of a chance to see real playing time at this tournament than Swords or Borlase.
It'll be a nice chance for WNBA fans to see what might arrive at some point in future years and be tantalised by prospects who are still very much developing their games.
2. Dominique Malonga, France
This is in a similar vein to the group above, but with her draft year approaching in 2025 Malonga gets her own entry. There just aren't too many 6-foot-6 athletes in the women's game who are mobile with good hands and are already producing on the professional level at 18 years old.
France do have plenty of veterans with more experience than Malonga, including Iliana Rupert who's only 23 herself, but they don't have too much true size beyond those two. They also left veteran center Ana Tadic out of their final 12, suggesting some confidence in Malonga, while FIBA legend Sandrine Gruda was not even included in the preliminary roster after an injury-plagued season. Malonga may not be their first option, but she also probably isn't too far down the list when France need help inside. Hopefully we get a chance to see what she's capable of at this level, because there's going to be a lot of talk about Malonga in the build-up to the 2025 draft. A few flashes of potential in Paris and some people could be getting very excited.
1. Lauren Jackson, Australia
We were always heading here. Some of you don't know. Some of you young kids don't remember or weren't around. But Lauren Jackson was an absolute beast. The inside-outside post of your dreams who could dominate on the low block before casually stepping outside and nailing a three over despairing arms. Usually while making you wonder what you were doing on the other end as well. Jackson's 2006 and 2007 seasons are still comfortably the best single-season PERs in the history of the WNBA (A'ja Wilson's currently threatening those numbers with her 2024 season, by way of illustrating the level).
But we, and most of all LJ herself, were robbed of much of her career by injuries. Her final WNBA game was in 2012, but her last real season was in 2010 when she won her third MVP trophy and a second ring. So to see her back at her fifth Olympics - 24 years after her first and 12 years since her most recent - is some kind of bizarre combination of absolutely terrifying and utterly glorious. Because we watched her play through so many injuries and so much pain that there's constantly a fear of yet another one, especially at 43 years old on knees that must be made of Swiss cheese and superglue at this point. But to see her still capable of competing at this level, even if far below her peak, is fantastic. A player who had so much time taken from her has somehow found her way all the way back and proven she’s still a threat on this stage. A true legend of the game gets to go out on her own terms, and to take another tilt at yet another medal. The Australians have won at least bronze every time she's been on the Olympic team, by the way. I wouldn't bet against one more to finish things off.
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Lauren Jackson is the GOAT!