Basketball fans react to Haily Van Lith dedicating her bronze medal to the late basketball legend Kobe Bryant. [photo: @haileyvanlith, @kobebryant]

Hailey Van Lith is the only collegiate player in the USA 3×3 women’s basketball team. After helping the Americans to the 2023 FIBA World Cup gold in Austria, USAB selected her to play in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Van Lith had a solid campaign in her Olympic debut but the Americans were dethroned in the event.

Team USA had a rough start, losing their first three games, including an ugly 17-13 loss to Germany, the eventual gold medal winners. Behind the former LSU guard and WNBA star Dearica Hamby, the Americans won their next four games to qualify for the play-in. They beat China for the right to play Spain in the semifinals.

The Americans had a nip-and-tuck battle with the Spaniards before losing 18-16. They managed a podium finish by holding off Canada 16-13 in the duel for the bronze medal. Hailey Van Lith dedicated her accomplishment to the late basketball legend, Kobe Bryant.

Fans on X, formerly Twitter, promptly reacted to Van Lith’s gesture:

“Kobe would’ve chucked that medal into the Seine River”

@lakersfrenzy piled it on:

“Kobe would of thrown that s**t out”

One fan pointed out what many probably thought:

“If you wanted to do it for Kobe you should’ve won gold”

Another fan kept the same thread going:

“Kobe rolling over in his grave right now from the insult.”

After losing in the semifinals to Spain, Hailey Van Lith used Kobe Bryant as her inspiration to keep going:

“I’m not gonna lie, it was tough. It was a tough situation for us to win it and we just didn’t soak in it. That’s the Kobe [Bryant] mentality. It’s like, ‘F**k it and go out and win the next game.”

The USA’s 3×3 women’s basketball team did win its next game to go home with a medal. Hailey Van Lith and Co., however, failed to defend the crown the Americans won in the Tokyo Olympics.

Hailey Van Lith has represented Team USA well over the years

On the biggest international basketball stage, Hailey Van Lith could only come up with a bronze medal. A gold in Paris might have been the jewel in her impressive basketball resume. Still, the failure to win the tournament’s top prize should not diminish what she has accomplished for Team USA.

Van Lith represented Team USA five times before the Paris debacle. In each of those times, she helped her team win the gold medal. Van Lith’s seven-point and six-rebound performance against France in the 2023 FIBA World Cup was key for the Americans in winning the championship.

Hailey Van Lith might have another shot at the gold medal in the same event four years from now. With Los Angeles hosting the next Olympic Summer Games, she could return with reinforcement.

Perhaps Cameron Brink, the 2023 FIBA World Cup MVP who tore her ACL before Paris, could return for a chance to rule the competition on home soil.