According to multiple reports, three Phoenix Mercury players are expected to be selected as part of the 12-man U.S. team that will compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris later this summer.
Diana Taurasi, who is in her 20th season with the Mercury and is the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer, will be teammates with teammate Brittney Griner, who returned to the court Friday night after missing the first 10 games of the regular season, and Khalia Copper, who was acquired by Phoenix in the offseason and is currently the WNBA’s third-leading scorer.
The Mercury posted the widely reported full roster on their X account (formerly Twitter), which included the three Phoenix stars.
The roster has sparked debate over who is not on it. According to reports from USA Today and other sources, rookie Caitlin Clark, who has been the talk of the league since being drafted first overall by the Indiana Fever after a stellar collegiate career at the University of Iowa, is not on the roster.
Considered one of the best players in WNBA history and the undisputed face of the Mercury franchise, Taurasi is second on the team in scoring this season with 16.3 points per game. She is a 10-time All-Star and has won five Olympic gold medals with the U.S. National Team, most recently in 2020.
Griner, a six-time All-Star and two-time Olympic gold medalist, had 11 points and four rebounds in 21 minutes in Friday’s season opener after missing the first 10 games with a broken toe. This will be Griner’s first time playing overseas since being detained for 10 months in Russia, where he was playing during the offseason. After his release, Griner said he would never play internationally again unless he was playing for the U.S. team in an event such as the Olympics.
Copper has made an immediate impact for the Mercuries, averaging 23.5 points and 4.6 rebounds as the team’s scoring leader. She is a three-time WNBA All-Star and a gold medalist at the 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup.
Projected members of Team USA this summer include A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young, Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray of the defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces, Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty, Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx, Jewel Loyd of the Seattle Storm and Alyssa Thomas of the Connecticut Sun.
