There are times in life when you will experience something so amazing, that it will be hard for you to surpass that event. For me, it will be hard to outshine getting a gold medal on my 25th birthday—it was one of the most memorable presents I’ve ever received. As we stood there listening to our national anthem, watching our flag being raised, and feeling the weight of the gold medal as it hangs from our neck, it was a dream come true for me.

Chemistry is a key ingredient for any team, and it definitely was a contributing factor to our success in Athens. Our veteran leadership is irreplaceable. The trio of three time Olympians (Dawn, Sheryl, and Lisa), not only had the experience of playing in 2 Olympics—more importantly they had the experience of winning 2 Olympics (now 3). I have a lot of respect for these players, they have devoted more than a decade of their lives to USA basketball, and have represented us in exceptional fashion.

Our one time (now 2) Olympians were Katie Smith and Yolanda Griffith. It was unfortunate not to have a healthy Katie with us, because she is such an offensive weapon. Yolanda demonstrated what it meant to be unselfish for the sake of the team. As one of the veteran players on the team, she adjusted to coming off the bench and made the 3 player rotation of herself, Lisa, and Tina a frontcourt that no other country could match.

Tina Thompson and Shannon Johnson are great example of players who were close to making the last Olympic team, and continued to improve their game over the last four years and proved to be invaluable to us. Both of these players were able to take over during spurts of games and carry us.

And last but not least, there were us young’uns. Talent is not directly proportional with age, as the young Tamika and Diana proved to everyone. Out of the five of us, (Swin, Diana, Sue, Catch, and myself) these two were called upon to play significant roles on the court, and did so beautifully.

So, are we the Dream team of Women’s basketball? The verdict is still out on that one, you can decide for yourself. I do know that we had a lot of very talented women, who put aside individual ambitions, stepped up when their number was called, and beat the toughest competition in the world. I am so blessed to have been a part of it.

So to everyone who was diligently watching us on t.v. or catching up with us on the internet, thank you so much for your support!! We are now on our way a back to our respective cities as the games resume. Swin and I are excited about returning back to Detroit, we have a tough 7 games ahead of us, and are looking forward to finishing out the season strong.