The US Women’s National Basketball Team: The Real Dream Team?

When most people think of the United States Olympic basketball, they think of the men’s squad. More specifically, they think of the 1992 Dream Team.

In 1992, the United States allowed professionals to be part of the squad for the first time in history, a response to the growing frustration after not winning a gold medal in the three previous Summer Olympics.

While that team changed the face of American Olympic basketball forever, the US Women’s National Team has been on an unprecedented run that dates back more than a decade.

After their most recent victory in the 2024 Summer Olympics over Nigeria, the victory train is still rolling, and the US women’s team looks poised to win another gold medal.

If you’re not quite aware of just how great this team has been over the last several years, learn more about their historic run today.

The History of Women’s Basketball

In order to truly understand the historic run that the US women’s national team has been on over the last several years, we need to understand just how rich a history women’s basketball has.

1892

Women’s basketball dates back to 1892, less than a full year after the game itself was invented.

However, the early days of women’s basketball were far from luxurious. Not only did they struggle to get any sort of recognition, but ladies who wanted to hoop often had to play by varying rules based on where the game was located.

Of course, traditionalists were mortified to find that young women of the early 1900s who were expected to marry young and have multiple children were playing sports.

1924

Women started governing their own basketball games in 1924, but they still struggled to build any sort of momentum. In 1936, basketball made its debut at the Summer Olympics.

However, there was no women’s tournament. Men’s basketball was the only Olympic form of the game for 40 years!

1976-1980

It wasn’t until 1976 that the US women’s team made its Olympic debut. Of course, that was the first year that women’s basketball was part of the Olympics.

The U.S. won a silver medal after losing to the Soviet Union in the gold medal game. By the time 1980 rolled around, it looked like women’s basketball, at least in the United States, was in danger of once again losing its momentum.

The games were held in Moscow, and in protest of the nation’s invasion of Afghanistan, the United States boycotted the 1980 Olympics. By no means was the US the only nation to boycott the 1980 games.

In total, 66 countries from around the world refused to send their athletes as a way of protesting the ongoing invasion.

1984-1992

The next Olympics, which were held in Los Angeles, California in 1984, saw the return of women’s basketball. As a means of getting even for the previous protest, the Soviet Union refused to send its athletes.

With six teams in the women’s tournament, the United States won gold after going 6-0 and outscoring their opponents by a staggering 192 points.

When the 1988 games rolled around, the women’s basketball field was up to eight teams, but once again, the United States won gold, outscoring opponents by 69 points across five games.

In 1992, at the Barcelona, Spain Summer Olympics, the US women’s team looked poised to three-peat. However, all of that changed in the semifinals, when they lost to The Unified Team, the name given to the women representing the former Soviet Union.

While they went home with the bronze in those games, things were about to change for women’s basketball in the United States.

A Run Like No Other

The 1996 US Women’s National Team is largely still the team that all others are compared to, but that may change during the 2024 Olympics.

The 1996 Games were slated to take place in Atlanta, Georgia, and during a trip to an exhibition game, Tara Vanderveer, the head coach who had taken leave from her coaching position at Stanford University to coach the Olympic squad, had the bus driver stop at the Georgia Dome.

She had secretly asked Teresa Edwards, a guard on the team, to bring one of the gold medals she had won during the 1984 and 1988 Games. One by one, she had every member of the roster stand in the middle of the field, which was set up for a football game, and put the medal on, encouraging them to envision standing there at the medal ceremony during the upcoming Olympics.

It worked. For the first time ever, there were 12 women’s teams in the Olympics, and the United States once again went undefeated on their way to their third gold medal in history. The 1996 team is still considered the greatest ever, a fact that’s supported by their +229 point differential.

2000-2020

That gold medal victory set the stage for what would become the most dominant run in the history of basketball. The US women’s team also won gold in 2000 (Sydney), 2004 (Athens), 2008 (Beijing), 2012 (London), 2016 (Rio de Janeiro), and 2020 (Tokyo).

While a single team winning seven consecutive gold medals is amazing enough, what’s even more impressive is that the US women’s national team went undefeated in every one of those Olympic games.

That’s right, the ladies representing the US on the hardwood have not lost a game since the loss to The United Team during the 1992 Games.

It’s worth noting that while the 1996 Games are typically credited with being the beginning of this incredible dynasty, there were teams that performed better, at least statistically.

For instance, the gold medal team from the 2008 Olympics outscored opponents by 301 points over eight games. It looked like the 2016 team was going to surpass that total, but they fell three points shy of breaking the record.

The 2024 US Women’s National Team

On Wednesday, August 7, 2024, the US Women’s National Team beat Nigeria by a score of 88-74. On the surface, that seems innocuous enough, but when you peel back the layers, you realize that this victory marked the 59th straight win for the American women. The victory elevated their all-time record to 76-3.

The US Women’s National Team kicked off play in the 2024 Olympics with a 102-76 victory over Japan. This was a welcomed sight for fans of the team who were a bit nervous coming into the 2024 Olympics.

Due to the Olympic schedule, the WNBA scheduled their All-Star Game as a contest between the league’s All Stars taking on the ladies, all of whom play in the league, in the midseason exhibition. The WNBA All Stars won, prompting many to ask if this was going to be the year that the US National Team faltered.

Four days after beating Japan, the US squad overcame Belgium 87-74, before beating German 87-68. The 14-point victory over Nigeria propelled the US women’s team into the semifinals where they’re scheduled to take on Australia in the semi-finals.

We’re Witnessing Greatness

There’s no doubt that the US women’s national team is the greatest Olympic basketball team of all time. Of the 11 Olympics that have had women’s basketball on the schedule, the US has won nine gold medals.

Remarkably, they haven’t lost a game since 1992, and have only lost three overall. All of the signs point to the 2024 squad continuing the streak, but only time will tell.