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Two players with Las Vegas Aces selected for Olympic team

Basketball generic
Posted at 10:56 AM, Jun 21, 2021
and last updated 2021-06-21 13:56:44-04

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Two players with the Las Vegas Aces are joining the U.S. team for the Olympics.

Headlining the team are longtime USA National Team members Sue Bird (Seattle Storm) and Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury), who each donned a USA Basketball jersey for the first time in 2000 and own a combined eight Olympic and seven FIBA World Cup gold medals, and three-time Olympic gold medalist Sylvia Fowles (Minnesota Lynx), who also captured gold at the 2010 FIBA World Cup.

Expecting to play in a third Olympic Games is Tina Charles (Washington Mystics), a three-time World Cup gold medalist; while 2016 Olympic gold medalists Brittney Griner (Phoenix Mercury) and Breanna Stewart (Seattle Storm), each of whom have captured at two World Cup gold medals, return to chase a second Olympic gold in Tokyo.

Two athletes who are pursuing their first Olympic gold medal and who already own a FIBA World Cup gold medal are Jewell Loyd (Seattle Storm) and A*ja Wilson (Las Vegas Aces).

Stepping onto the world stage for the first time at a FIBA senior-level five-on-five competition will be Ariel Atkins (Washington Mystics), Napheesa Collier (Minnesota Lynx), Skylar Diggins-Smith (Phoenix Mercury) and Chelsea Gray (Las Vegas Aces).

The team will be lead by South Carolina's women's basketball coach Dawn Staley.

The XXXII Olympic Games women's basketball competition will be held July 26-Aug. 8 at the Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan.