Team USA Coach Kara Lawson Under Fan Fire After Duke Ejection-Fest Upset
On September 22, 2025, it was announced that Duke women's basketball head coach Kara Lawson is the Team USA women's basketball head coach and will lead the team through the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Lawson was a Team USA assistant coach under Cheryl Reeve at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and now joins a long line of legendary head coaches that includes Reeve, Dawn Staley, Geno Auriemma, and Tara VanDerveer, all of whom brought Team USA gold medals at the Olympics they were Team USA's head coach for.
This decision raised eyebrows for many. While Lawson has a good reputation in the sport, there's no question that she doesn't have the same pedigree as these aforementioned names when it comes to being a head coach. She has been at Duke since 2020, and while her team made it to the Elite Eight in the 2025 NCAA tournament (her best finish as Duke's head coach), there's a case to be made that this shouldn't cut it for a Team USA head coach.
Duke's Brutal November 14 Display Sparks Kara Lawson Fan Criticism
Lawson's No. 15-ranked Duke Blue Devils lost to the unranked West Virginia Mountaineers by a score of 57-49 on November 15, thus bringing Duke's record to 2-2.
However, the upset loss is just one part of the story. There was a scuffle between the two teams on the court at halftime that led to a total of six players being ejected, most of whom were ejected because the bench ran onto the court. As a result, West Virginia had only five players available to compete.
But that was still enough to beat Lawson's Blue Devils squad.
Here’s the altercation that led to West Virginia’s entire bench being ejected for leaving the bench.
— Talia Goodman (@TaliaGoodmanWBB) November 15, 2025
Jordan Harrison was also ejected for fighting, alongside Duke’s Jordan Wood.
West Virginia has just five players available for the remainder of the game. pic.twitter.com/NzkxKxCTx9
Lawson is getting a ton of criticism from fans because of this defeat, many of whom are using it to question her credentials as Team USA's head coach.
"USA Basketball needs to rethink the decision that made Kara Lawson the Team USA Women’s coach. That game was an embarrassment for Duke, but credit WVU for adjusting and playing hard," said @crb20167.
"No way Kara Lawson coaching the national team lol," wrote @wheelsfelloff_.
"making kara lawson the hc for 2028 olympics us team is an inside job," added @apsamar_5.
User @edebiriscinema wrote, "just remembered kara lawson is coaching team usa".
just remembered kara lawson is coaching team usa pic.twitter.com/RW5h5z8Yei
— 🐌 (@edebiriscinema) November 15, 2025
"Nah Duke is bunz, how do you lose to a West Virginia that only has five players? Take that 15th rank away from them and keep Kara Lawson away from Team USA 😒🚮," added @DLoThaReal.
"Anybody ready to have the Kara Lawson conversation? She gives some decent pep talks, but she shouldn’t be the Team USA coach. Losing to a WV team with 5 players in the 2nd half is inexcusable. She needs to hire an offensive coordinator at Duke and let Dawn win another gold medal," wrote @CoachWestern.
"This was the worst day in USA basketball history," said @antivirgosuns in a post that responded to Lawson's introductory press conference as Team USA's head coach.
This was the worst day in USA basketball history. https://t.co/2HKVsrxHNS
— suns (@antivirgosuns) November 15, 2025
@SkinsHoops86 said, "WBB Olympic Coach, with roster full of HS All Americans, has her team being doubled up in 2nd half, 32-16, vs. WVU team with 4 backups + 1 starter, none of whom scored in 1st half.
"OMG. Sue Bird what you doing?! Check the CarFax Report PLZ 😂." For reference, Sue Bird was in charge of Team USA making Lawson the next head coach.
"Kara Lawson gotta figure something out and soon. I don’t wanna hear any more of the speeches, and she really doesn’t need to be hosting another coaching clinic until she cleans some things up. Enough is enough she’s mediocre as h*** right now," wrote @MadamMaziel.
"So when does the conversation start about Kara Lawson👀," wrote @94FeetWBB.
So when does the conversation start about Kara Lawson👀 pic.twitter.com/29Po9MhqiU
— 94 Feet WBB (@94FeetWBB) November 15, 2025
Clearly this conversation about Lawson is now underway after Duke's tough display on Friday.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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