Angel Reese is headed toward her first senior major-tournament run with USA Basketball, and Kara Lawson says the fit is simple: toughness, contact and a player who will not back away from a battle. With the roster for next month’s 2026 FIBA World Cup in Germany taking shape, Lawson said Reese brings the aggression Team USA wants for the Stars-and-Stripes.
That is the kind of player search that makes Reese relevant now. She has turned in a strong season after being traded from the Chicago Sky to the Atlanta Dream, made her third All-Star team and is averaging a career-high 15.6 points per game while leading the WNBA in rebounding at 12.1 rebounds per game. She is also sixth in steals at 1.7 per game, third in defensive win shares at 2.1 and eighth in defensive rating at 98.6, a profile that looks built for a team trying to solve the rougher edges of international play.
Lawson said Reese’s game stands out because she plays with the kind of force that matters in FIBA competition. She pointed to Reese’s ability to embrace a more physical style and to punish teams on the glass, where giving up second chances can decide games. That is also why the selection feels bigger than one roster spot: Team USA is trying to build a group that can handle contact, control rebounds and keep opponents to one shot.
The context matters because Lawson is not approaching Reese as a stranger. She first met her at Team USA’s first camp as head coach in December 2025 at Duke University, and she said the two share roots in the DMV, with Reese from Baltimore, Maryland, and Lawson from northern Virginia. Lawson, who has spent nearly three decades around Team USA in different roles, said Reese’s intensity lifts practices and games in a way that fits the level this roster is chasing.
There is a twist in the logic, though. Lawson said Team USA needs players who bring physicality for FIBA play even as that style is typically allowed more there than in the WNBA. That makes the standard less about surviving a tighter whistle and more about imposing one’s own. Reese has done that this season, including a Tuesday night line of 21 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals in the Dream’s first win in Las Vegas since 2024.
Her rise comes as other familiar names are also set for their first senior U.S. national team major tournament, including Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, Rhyne Howard and Aliyah Boston. For Reese, the next step is already clear: she is moving from a dominant WNBA season into a role where her rebounding and force could matter on a global stage next month, when USA Basketball takes the Stars-and-Stripes to Germany.
