Top 3 players who could lead 2024 Paris Olympics Women's Basketball in assists ft. Rui Machida
The women's basketball event of the 2024 Paris Olympics is set to begin on Sunday and will feature 12 nations from around the world competing for the gold medal. The games will be played at Pierre-Mauroy Stadium in Lille, France with the tournament's first match between Spain and China.
The United States are the reigning champions and will look to clinch their eighth straight gold medal in the Olympic event. Let's take a look at three players who could lead the tournament in the assists category of the women's basketball event.
Top 3 players who could lead 2024 Paris Olympics Women's Basketball in assists
#1 Rui Machida (Japan)
The Japanese guard previously led all players in assists at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, averaging 12.5 per game, and was the only player in the event who averaged in double digits. She also set an assists record when she dished out 18 in their semifinal matchup against France.
Machida led Japan to a historic silver medal three years ago and gained worldwide recognition for her performance. After their second-place finish, Machida joined the WNBA's Washington Mystics in 2022 and averaged 2.6 assists in 36 games.
This 2024 Olympics will be the third in Rui Machida's international playing career. She will look to help Japan upset Team USA on Monday when both teams meet and kick off their respective campaigns.
#2 Alyssa Thomas (USA)
Alyssa Thomas will make her Olympic debut in this year's summer games. She previously led Team USA in winning the 2022 FIBA Women's World Cup where she averaged 4.3 assists per game — the sixth-highest of the tournament.
Since then, Thomas was second in assists in the 2023 WNBA season after averaging 7.9 per game, and second so far this season with 7.6 assists per game.
#3 Yvonne Anderson (Serbia)
Yvonne Anderson was the assists per game leader in the 2022 FIBA Women's World Cup where she dished out 6.5 per outing. She will be appearing in her second Olympic tournament after previously seeing action in Tokyo, where she averaged 3.2 assists per game and helped Serbia to a fourth-place finish.