While they don’t team up often, the USA’s women’s basketball team is a dynasty in itself. With 11 golds and numerous records, each and every member of the roster over the years has left an indelible mark on the global event. When you boast of scoring machines like A’ja Wilson, Diana Taurasi, and Breanna Stewart, other teams rarely stand a chance. While these women have set historic marks in the WNBA in terms of scoring (they are responsible for four of the top ten single-game scores in league history), none of them is actually the scoring leader for their country at the Olympics.

A’ja Wilson, the 2x back-to-back WNBA champion, is the scoring leader and MVP frontrunner this year in the league. Despite playing in just one Olympic event, she is currently tied with Cheryl Miller for the highest-scoring average of 16.5 PPG. Moreover, the White Mamba, Diana Taurasi, with Jewell Loyd and Sabrina Ionescu will rain threes on the opponent. Still, with so much star power, these athletes may never reach the point of the all-time leading scorer. At least not anytime soon, except maybe Taurasi.

The stellar Team USA athlete to achieve this goal was Lisa Leslie. She represented her country in four Olympics, winning Gold each time. In just 32 games, she scored a total of 488 points. The 4x Olympic gold medalist still holds the all-time leading scorer record for the women’s national team. In fact, she even holds the edge over the men’s team. For the men’s counterpart, Kevin Durant leads the team in scoring with 435 points. Leslie’s last game in the red, white, and blue jersey was in 2008, after which she took retirement from her national career.

Behind her is the 6x Olympian and the Phoenix Mercury superstar Diana Taurasi, playing her last Team USA event. The consensus GOAT has represented Team USA for 20 years, making her first appearance at the global event in Athens in 2004. She has so far played a record 38 games in the Olympics. In these, Taurasi has 414 points. We have seen the White Mamba show off her skills. Hence, if she wants to break that record, she can, under certain circumstances.

Taurasi is trailing Lisa Leslie by 74 points. This means if Team USA plays every game until the finals and the Phoenix star averages at least 13 points per game, she will lodge her name as the all-time leading scorer in the Olympics for USA WBB. Interestingly, if she does reach this feat, she will become the all-time leading scorer in both the WNBA and the Olympics. However, there’s much more that Lisa Leslie has achieved in the Olympics.

Other Olympic records by Lisa Leslie

Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie does not just hold the scoring record for Team USA. The Sparks legend was also great on the board. She has the most rebounds in the quadrennial event for the USA with 241. Furthermore, she also holds the country record for most blocks with 37. In her very first event in Atlanta (1996), Lisa Leslie set the record for the most field goals made with 16 against Japan, which stands to this day. As a result, she also has the American record for the highest number of points scored in an Olympic game with 35.

Furthermore, the 52-year-old currently sits in the 6th spot with 34 steals, in the 10th spot with 45 assists, and 4th with a 15.3 scoring average. The Hall of Famer has set the standard for Team USA in the Olympics. On the current roster, A’ja Wilson is the only player averaging more points per game (16.5 PPG) than Leslie. While we do not know if she will ever leave Leslie behind as an all-time leading scorer by the end of her national career, we can certainly rely on this bunch of 12 players to bring home another gold medal.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting pilot episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and SEC All-Freshman Team Selection, Silas Demary Jr.