Aug 4, 2024; Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France; United States head coach Cheryl Reeve reacts in the first half against Germany in a women’s group C game during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Stade Pierre-Mauroy. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-Imagn Images John David Mercer-Imagn Images

Cheryl Reeve Out as Team USA Olympics Coach After 2024 Gold Medal

Originally posted on Women's Fastbreak on SI
By Grant Young | Last updated Sep 22, 2025 1:08 PM ET

While she's still in the middle of her coaching career, even if Cheryl Reeve were to retire today, she would go down as one of (if not the) greatest women's basketball coaches of all time.

This is proven by her leading the Minnesota Lynx to four league championships (with perhaps a fifth on the way in 2025), which is tied for the most that any WNBA franchise has won. She is also a four-time WNBA Coach of the Year, holds the WNBA record for the most total wins as a head coach, the league record for most career postseason wins, and makes the Lynx a perennial championship contender, no matter who is on their roster.

Reeve also has prestigious coaching credentials when coaching USA Basketball. She won an Olympic gold medal as an assistant coach in 2016 and 2020, was named Team USA's women's basketball head coach in 2021, and then led Team USA to gold in the 2024 Paris Olympics Games.

However, Reeve's run as the head coach at Team USA has come to an end.

Kara Lawson Named New Team USA Women's Basketball Head Coach

On September 22, it was announced that Kara Lawson (who is the Duke women's basketball head coach and was a Team USA assistant coach under Reeve in Paris) is now the Team USA women's basketball head coach and will lead the team through the 2028 Olympic Games, which is taking place in Los Angeles.

An ESPN article from Alexa Philippou noted that Sue Bird (who was named the managing director of the USA Basketball women's national team earlier this year) chose Lawson for this role.

It's important to note that this doesn't mean Cheryl Reeve was fired from the job. This was shown through an X post from Patrick Borzi of MinnPost, who wrote, "Cheryl Reeve, who coached ‘24 team to gold, never said publicly whether she wanted to return."

Chosen by new Team USA managing director Sue Bird, Lawson will coach 2028 Olympic team in L.A. Cheryl Reeve, who coached ‘24 team to gold, never said publicly whether she wanted to return. @minnesotalynx #Lynx #LynxRecognize https://t.co/5piGahPofF
— Patrick Borzi (@BorzMN) September 22, 2025

In other words, there's currently no information about why it won't be Reeve who is coaching Team USA in 2028, but there's nothing to suggest that this wasn't a mutual decision. In fact, there's a good chance that Reeve made it clear that she didn't want to assume the national team head coaching role once again. She certainly wasn't let go of because of poor performance.

Regardless, Lawson is an esteemed coach, and Team USA (which has won eight straight Olympic gold medals) is still in great hands after the Cheryl Reeve era.

This article first appeared on Women's Fastbreak on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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