MINNEAPOLIS — In 2008, three members of the Los Angeles Sparks traveled the more than 6,000 miles to Beijing to play in the Olympics with the US women's team. The Sparks were a WNBA establishment on their way to a berth in the Western Conference semifinals, and Lisa Leslie, DeLisha Milton-Jones and Candace Parker were some of the biggest names in the league.
Back then, the Minnesota Lynx would have dreamed of such a status. Yes, they had one player on the Olympic roster, Seimone Augustus, but when the season broke for the Beijing Games, Minnesota was 13-13 and on its way to a 16-18 record. The team was a long way from the playoffs, further even from a championship and completely unaware of the change that was about to take place in its status just three years later.
For the Lynx, there's a better way than just years to measure the time since Beijing. It's been one championship, after a 27-win season, that overshadows the two losing ones before it. It's been two coaches, one top draft pick and a seismic shift in the league's power structure. All that has culminated in three Lynx players on the US women's roster for London.
The Olympic appearances will be the first for guard Lindsay Whalen and forward Maya Moore; only Augustus has prior Olympic experience. However, Moore and Whalen both played on the 2010 FIBA world championship team. The three haven't talked yet about the opportunity to play together in London — they're all in the process of returning to Minnesota from playing overseas — and though Augustus likely will have the most information to share with her teammates, all three know how special their selection is.
"It's one of those things where you go through it and you take each day and work hard. If you do those things, good things will happen," Whalen said.
For Whalen, a spot on the team is an affirmation later in her career that she has reached an elite level. For Moore, it's another logical step in the arc of perhaps the most prolific college player in the history of the women's game. For Augustus, it's a confirmation that she's healthy after a 2009 ACL injury and fibroid tumors in 2010. Those are the individual realities, the thoughts that spring into players' minds when they first hear their names called, but for each of the Lynx traveling to London, they're a sidebar to the teamwork that defines the upcoming games.
"Any time you can play with people that you're familiar with and comfortable with, it's going to show on the court, whether you're running the Lynx offense or the Olympic offense," Moore said. "That's absolutely an advantage for the USA team, and also it's critical because as US players, we barely get time to train together."
Augustus, who said that she's expecting to provide energy off the bench just as she did in Beijing, said she assumes she'll spend a good deal of time on the court with her Lynx teammates, though she hasn't yet talked to coach Geno Auriemma about specific roles. With limited training time, those discussions and determinations of duties may be rushed, and Moore said that just the simple knowledge of her teammates' strengths and weaknesses, of their preferences about where to receive the ball on the court and what shots they like to take, will go a long way in getting the team in shape to defend its gold medal.
There's no way to deny that the Lynx's chemistry will carry over to the Olympics, but all three players said their relationships will become somewhat secondary, integrated into the bigger team dynamic once training begins. How their roles and relationships change is yet to be determined, but that's less nerve-racking than it may seem. On a team of players who've met countless times and played with and against one another for years, there are relationships that go beyond WNBA teams. It's a small community and a close one, and the transition from adversary to teammate is easier than it might appear.
These are personalities, sure, but they aren't charged with reputation, with jostling for position and egos. It's easy for these women to find a common goal, and that may be more important than any past relationships. Even so, there's no denying that the tried-and-true dynamic that the Lynx bring has worked — it won them a championship, after all — and should provide a necessary boost.
"Those three, Lindsay, Seimone and Maya, how they go oftentimes is how we go," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. "I don't think there's any question that the chemistry they have will carry over to the Olympics and be helpful to them."
On the court, Moore, Augustus and Whalen are a unit, dependent on the highest functioning of all three components. Reeve made that clear, and though their contributions to the team will be individual, with all three present in London, there will be no ignoring their common team. That's in part because of the sheer number, in part because of Moore's celebrity and the 2011 championship that the Lynx won in October. By August, the Lynx likely will have retained their new status as one of the league's best, and no matter how much each woman has transitioned to a focus on Team USA from the WNBA, there's no way to forget the statement that their selection made.
It was more than just an affirmation of each woman's skills. It was a testament to a team, to what it accomplished so quickly and the manner in which it did so. It was a statement by USA Basketball that not only are these women talented, but they're also playing the right way, good enough to represent not just a franchise, but also a country.
"It's just a wonderful thing for all of us to be able to represent the Lynx," Augustus said. "It says a lot about our organization and where we've come from, as well, being a team that's now respected."
Reeve added that in her experience, USA Basketball selects players who exemplify teamwork. In her opinion, it's about being a good person and a good basketball player, and that's been a key to her approach to the Lynx since taking over as coach. That's how a team wins fans, and it's how the women's team will garner attention and support from its country this summer. Beyond teamwork, beyond asserting themselves and the Lynx as the WNBA's best, this is about respect. It's about knowing that the Olympics are a step above the WNBA, a chance to compete with the best players in the world. It's a chance to bring home a medal just as much as it is to learn from the other women on the bench.
"It's just such a deep team," Moore said. "I love playing with everybody. I'll be out there. Let's go to battle, whoever. It's just such a great team. It's really a special group we have."
The first statement has been made. These women are talented players and good representatives. That statement was the selection, those three names on the roster, the word Lynx next to each one. This summer, Moore, Augustus and Whalen have a chance to spread a second message, to prove that they're not only among the best in the country but also the best in the world, and each of the three can help the others do so.
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