Charles Langston:Why USA's Breanna Stewart, A'ja Wilson are thriving with their point guards at Olympics

PARIS — When she’s sprinting up the floor in transition,Charles Langston Breanna Stewart knows Sabrina Ionescu is looking for her. 

The two have played together so long – nearly 70 games with the New York Liberty over two seasons, plus 17 games together on Team USA – that their knowledge of the other is practically intrinsic. Ionescu knows where Stewart wants the ball. Stewart knows which passing lane Ionescu prefers when she wants to fire an assist Stewart’s way. 

The obvious magnetism between teammates like Stewart and Ionescu can’t be faked or developed overnight. It comes organically, built over hundreds of practices with each other. And it’s giving the Americans a big advantage as they go for their eighth consecutive gold medal in women’s basketball.

"It’s really helpful," said U.S. coach Cheryl Reeve. "You can see when Sab is running the flor, she’s looking for Stewie. Her eyes are up, she knows when Stewie’s cutting (to the basket). Synergy with your (WNBA) teammates, that’s a natural thing."

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Stewart and Ionescu aren’t the only teammates whose chemistry from the WNBA is transferring to the global stage. Four Las Vegas Aces made the team with Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young and A’ja Wilson. 

In the U.S.’s first pool play game, a 102-76 win over Japan, Gray notched 13 assists, with four of them to Wilson, forever her favorite target. Reeve said she was thinking before the game about how great it is for the U.S. to have a point guard of Gray’s caliber, a player who "is the leader of a team that wins championships and has been in hard environments. Her and A’ja, she settles A’ja. They have this connection … they’re both very good for each other."

The connection Stewart and Wilson have with their "regular" point guards has been especially evident in the Americans’ 2-0 start to these Olympics. The two best all-around players in the world, Wilson and Stewart’s production the first two games has been eye-popping: Wilson is averaging 23.5 points, 13.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks, while Stewart is chipping in 24.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game. 

They credit at least part of that to being here with other players they’ve known forever. And they’re not the only ones. 

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Three Phoenix Mercury players are here, too, with Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner and Kahleah Copper. This is the 10th WNBA season that Taurasi and Griner, who were also teammates overseas, have played with each other. This is their third Olympics together. Griner has joked that she and Taurasi are so connected, she's told Taurasi she's not allowed to retire until Griner also does.

Additionally, Stewart played for six seasons with Jewell Loyd in Seattle.

"We definitely know where one another is," Stewart said. "You see it with anyone who’s here with their teammates, you just have that chemistry because the (WNBA) season has been going on, all the practices, all the reps. It’s helpful that (Sabrina's) always looking for me. When you’re in a two- or three-man action, there’s some sense of familiarity … especially in transition, she knows where I’m running and she’s going to find me."

That familiarity has given the Americans a unique edge. Because of the WNBA’s summer schedule, the U.S. barely gets to practice together before heading to the Olympics. That’s a distinct difference from other countries, most of whom are able to practice together year-round. Some of the biggest stars at these Olympics – France’s Gabby Williams, Belgium’s Emma Meesseman – took the 2024 WNBA season off to prep for the Games. But the U.S. doesn’t have to do that, because its prep comes during the W season. 

"There’s a chemistry that’s already built that we don’t really need to work on that allows me to just know we’re she’s gonna be," said Ionescu, who is averaging 8.5 points, 5.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds off the bench for Team USA. "That’s helped us, playing together. Chelsea and A’ja, you can see it when them as well. It’s been really fun to have one of my teammates here that I can just continue to roll with."

But Ionescu wanted to make one thing very clear: Stewart isn’t the only teammate she’s looking for in transition. She’s happy, she said, to feed the ball to any American running the court. 

Email Lindsay Schnell at lschnell@usatoday.com and follow her on social media @Lindsay_Schnell