Olympic gold medal coaches Dawn Staley, Kara Lawson cross paths again in USC vs. Duke
Dawn Staley and Kara Lawson faced off in the WNBA, played roles together on Team USA’s 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medal squad and both coached gold medal women’s basketball teams in Tokyo last summer.
Their paths have crossed since Lawson attended a summer basketball camp at the University of Virginia as an elementary schooler. Lawson said when she was younger, she first met a college-age Staley, along with Virginia basketball stars Tonya Cardoza and Tammi Reiss.
“As I grew up in the game and kept getting better, I ended up crossing paths with her multiple times, whether it was at a high school All-American camp or playing against her when I got to the pros,” Lawson said.
With the two commonly running in similar circles, Staley and Lawson are set to meet again at Cameron Indoor Stadium when Staley’s top-ranked South Carolina team travels to face Lawson’s No. 15 Duke Blue Devils. Both enter the December matchup undefeated.
Lawson had a 13-year stint in the WNBA and began her broadcasting career while she was still playing. She said Staley coached the first game she announced, a Temple vs. St. Joseph’s matchup during Staley’s fifth season at the helm of the Owls from 2004-05.
“That was pretty early in her coaching career,” Lawson said. “We just traveled in the same circles a lot.”
Staley, after winning three Olympic gold medals as a player for Team USA in 1996, 2000 and 2004, met up with Lawson once again when she served as Team USA’s assistant coach in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Lawson played on that team, which won the Americans’ fourth consecutive gold medal in women’s basketball.
Staley coached her first season at South Carolina in 2008 and built a perennial power that won the 2017 national championship, made three Final Fours and won six Southeastern Conference tournaments.
Lawson’s broadcasting career has seen her work as one of the first women to be a TV analyst in the NBA and commentating on women’s basketball in the Tokyo Olympics. She was an assistant coach in the NBA from 2019-20 with the Boston Celtics before taking her first NCAA head coaching job at Duke in 2020.
Over the summer, Staley and Lawson both coached Team USA women’s basketball teams to gold medal wins at the Tokyo Olympics. Staley’s 5-on-5 women’s team took Team USA’s seventh straight gold medal in her first Olympics as head coach, and Lawson’s 3-on-3 team won gold in the sport’s Olympic debut.
“Kara (is) a great basketball mind,” Staley said. “I mean, she thinks basketball 24/7. Her mind has taken her to a lot of great places. ... She found herself coaching on the collegiate level at Duke. I think it fits her. She’s going to do a great job.”
Lawson said while she and Staley aren’t close friends, she characterizes their relationship as “respectful competitors.”
When the two cross paths once again Wednesday, Lawson will be focused on coaching Duke to an upset.
“I’d love to give you a warm and fuzzy soundbite, (but) I don’t even know if I’ll look down the other bench tomorrow night, unless to see if they’re subbing someone in,” Lawson said. “I don’t really tend to do that during the game. ... I’ll be thinking about how to rebound the ball and how to stop (Aliyah) Boston from dominating in the paint.”
How to watch South Carolina vs. Duke 2021 women’s basketball
Who: No. 1 South Carolina (10-0) vs. No. 15 Duke (8-0)
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C.
Watch: ACC Network
This story was originally published December 15, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
