LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Team USA won the bronze medal Monday in 3x3 women's basketball at the Summer Olympics in Paris, and one of their players was quick to bring up Kobe Bryant and his "Mamba Mentality" after the game.
Hailey Van Lith is a huge fan of the late Basketball Hall of Famer, and said she believed Bryant would appreciate her team's approach after losing in the semifinals to Spain earlier in the day.
"I think Kobe would be proud as heck of me for not letting us lose that last game," Van Lith said after the bronze medal matchup. "Sometimes you can't control the outcomes like that last game. I'm not gonna lie, it was tough. It was a tough situation for us to win it and we just didn't sulk in it. That's the Kobe mentality. It's like, 'F it,' go out and win the next game."
Van Lith led USA in scoring with six points in the bronze medal game against Canada, despite playing the least amount of minutes. The 22-year-old is the only college player on any of USA Basketball's rosters this Olympics.
Van Lith's Instagram profile photo shows her shooting a basketball in front of a giant Kobe Bryant picture. She competed in these Olympics wearing his Nike shoes.
She posted a series of photos and videos of her meeting Kobe in a Jan. 26, 2020, post -- the day Bryant passed in a helicopter accident.
"Thank you for changing my life," Van Lith wrote in the caption.
The U.S. team lost each of its first three games in Paris -- to Germany, Azerbaijan and Australia -- before rattling off five straight wins to make it into the semifinals.
Van Lith, a guard, played with forward Cierra Burdick, forward Dearica Hamby and guard Rhyne Howard.
She spoke with KING 5's Chris Egan after winning bronze about just how difficult it was to medal.
"I'm really proud of us," she said. "People don't understand how hard three-on-three is and the uniqueness of the sport. And for us to start zero and three and go six of seven in the next seven games, against the seven best teams in the world, is actually incredible."
Van Lith is from Wenatchee, Washington, and began her college career at the University of Louisville before she transferred to Louisiana State University in April 2023. According to LSU Athletics, she scored in double figures in 21 games last year, and had 10 games with five or more assists.
She then transferred to Texas Christian University for the 2024-25 college basketball season.
