Kara Lawson's coaching journey has reached a perfect state of momentum. So much so that she's now getting recognized for her international game.

On Monday, USA Basketball named Lawson the '2025 USA Basketball 5-on-5 Senior Coach of the Year' after taking on the USA Team head coach role.

The award is given based on "outstanding leadership at any 5-on-5 national team event in 2025." Lawson was in the running alongside Stephen Silas, head coach for the 2025 USA Men’s AmeriCup Team.

While Silas ended the year with a bronze, Lawson had an impactful summer with Team USA. She guided the AmeriCup roster to a flawless 7-0 record at the 2025 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup with a squad made up entirely of collegiate players

Under Kara Lawson's guidance, the run not only delivered gold for the team but also qualification for the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup in Berlin.

Kara Lawson won't stop at this honor

Lawson has big ambitions for Team USA, and she made it clear while talking to Olympics.com.

"Intensity and competitiveness, that’s gotta be the foundation for us. With so many first time players in the national team, there's an expectation of how we're going to play, how we need to play and how we need to win."

With new names like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and more joining the year-end training camp, Lawson had her hands full. While a finalized squad hasn't been announced, we could see something come up in the next few weeks.

Written by

Fatema Kapasi

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar