Kara Lawson
Illustration by Napoleon Wright II
Durham, if your morning coffee isn’t cutting it, we brought in serious reinforcement. Olympian, Duke legend, and U.S. Women’s Olympic Head Coach Kara Lawson is here!
Big congrats! You’re now coaching both Duke and Team USA. Do you get two whistles, or just one really powerful one??
So a funny answer to this question—I don’t use a whistle at all in my practices. So, none! I just have more players, more coaches, more tournaments, and more responsibility. But I see that as a positive thing for both Duke and Team USA.
If you could bottle up one feeling from this opportunity and share it with every young coach out there, what would it be?
Set big goals for yourself, pursue them, and have great confidence. Coaching Team USA was one of my biggest goals. But when I started, there was nothing remarkable about my coaching that suggested I would one day reach this point. I just had to work hard and take advantage of opportunities to develop, grow, and challenge myself with different roles. I tried to do my best in each role I took, and looking back, each one prepared me for today. If there’s something you really want to achieve or a job you want to pursue—go after it! I always believed I could get here. It’s a nice reminder to keep setting goals and continue working hard to reach them.
If you had a “Coach Kara World Tour” T-shirt with both schedules on it, which city would you circle as the can’t-miss matchup?
I’ll give you two European cities. This season, we’re opening here at Duke in Paris. We’re super excited. Most of our players are visiting Paris for the first time. We’ve had it circled on our calendar for a long time. And for Team USA, we’re already scheduled for Berlin in September 2026. I’ve never been, and I’m really looking forward to it!
What’s one stat you look at that fans probably don’t think matters—but is huge for winning games?
Rebounding. It’s important for all teams, not just ours. We look at offensive rebounds—can we score extra points—and defensive rebounds—can we prevent the other team from doing the same.
With NIL and the changing college basketball landscape, how do you keep the focus on team over individual?
We try to paint a clear picture for our players about how you have to construct the team and how you have to play. It starts with recruiting players for whom winning is important—and winning involves the team. There’s no individual player in basketball who can win by themselves. We appreciate that mindset and talk a lot about what it takes for us to win—it takes everybody. Whether you’re playing a lot of minutes, a few minutes, or no minutes at all, you still have a role and are very important to our success. We celebrate when the team does well. We love when individuals shine, but we really celebrate team success.
What’s the team’s go-to postgame meal this season? Anyone have any weird food combos that shocked you?
They like pasta and steak. They love fast food—they’re teenagers, haha. We’re working on giving them exposure to different kinds of food, but we also want them to eat what they like.
If Duke WBB were a movie this season, what would the title be?
I’d like the title to be Pushing for Growth.
What advice would you give young women aspiring to be leaders in male-dominated spaces—whether that’s basketball, business, or beyond?
In leadership, what’s important is being a competent worker. It’s very hard to lead if you don’t do your job well. It’s hard for people to respect you if you don’t have a strong work ethic or the necessary knowledge. Once you’re really good at your job, people will naturally start asking for your advice. You’ll become a voice they depend on, and you’ll be asked to lead. And once you’re in that position, be confident. You’ve already shown you can do it. Don’t second-guess your ability.
What’s your all-time favorite song—and is it ever blasting in the locker room or during practice?
I let the players pick the music in the locker room because I think it’s their space to get ready. I’ll be honest, I don’t recognize most of their music, haha. I like all types: Motown, R&B, and Country. I don’t have one particular favorite song, but I love anything by Alicia Keys, John Legend, or Adele—those are some of my favorite artists.
What’s something small, unexpected, or just plain fun that gives you hope right now?
I get a lot of inspiration and hope from the young people I work with every day. The chance to come to practice each morning, see their faces, and be able to coach them and help them learn gives me a lot of hope for the future—not just for Duke, but for our society, young women, and our future leaders.
Having fun reading our interviews? Please consider contributing any sum at our Cash App: $LetsTalkDurham
