“You Go in Survival Mode”: Cheryl Reeve Justifies Why She Sat Out Diana Taurasi in the Gold Medal Game at Paris Olympics

One year ago, Team USA’s women’s national basketball team secured a gold medal at the Paris Olympics. The outstanding game went down to the wire as the France national team put up a valiant fight. Considering Team USA won, not much is to be made of the struggles in the game. Yet, WNBA legend Diana Taurasi still hasn’t gotten over her unexpected treatment from head coach Cheryl Reeve.

Diana Taurasi had her farewell tour from basketball in 2024. It marked the final season of her WNBA career and her last rodeo with Team USA basketball. At the time, Taurasi had already stamped herself as a legend in international play. Earning top prize in Paris would be her third Olympic gold.

Out of every player on the roster, Taurasi had the most experience in high-pressure situations. However, when Team USA found themselves battling adversity, Taurasi didn’t hear her name called. In the three-time WNBA champion’s new docu-series titled Taurasi, she opened up about her Paris Olympics experience.

“I’m confused by what happened,” Taurasi said. “I never got, ‘Hey, you’re not going to play because we’re going this direction.'”

The lack of communication negatively affected Taurasi. Thankfully, Team USA went on to win, so it wasn’t that big of an issue. Unfortunately, Taurasi will never be able to change the bitter taste she has whenever she thinks of her final Olympic basketball game.

Cheryl Reeve, who is the head coach of the Minnesota Lynx, didn’t go into the game with the plan of benching Taurasi. The heat of the moment changed her coaching philosophy.

“We went into the game as we did with all the other games, that you don’t have a mindset of not playing someone or a group of people,” Reeve said on In Case You Missed It.

If Team USA had played the brand of basketball they envisioned, Taurasi would’ve certainly touched the court. But when France upped their lead, Reeve couldn’t take any chances with a lineup that wouldn’t guarantee the best result.

“In the middle of the third quarter, we were down 10. What you do as a coach is you go in survival mode. The decisions that we made, we felt were the best decisions to get us to the place to win the game,” Reeve said.

Reeve and the rest of the coaching staff’s decisions did indeed lead Team USA to victory. As frustrating as it must be for Taurasi’s last memory of international play to come on the sidelines, even she would admit that winning takes the greater priority. Her lack of playing time could never minimize the great basketball career she put forth for over 20 years.