national team

ATLANTA — JJ Redick was already preaching one type of Japanese philosophy, harping to his team about the concept of “kaizen” to improve each day. Off the court, the head coach found inspiration in another Japanese phrase.

Lakers players and coaches have used PechaKucha presentations to facilitate team bonding this season. The slideshows, which come from the Japanese word for chitchat, could be a secret to the team’s hot start as the Lakers (7-2) have won five consecutive games entering a five-game road that starts Saturday in Atlanta at 5 p.m. PST against the Hawks.

The Lakers have pieced together one of the NBA’s most efficient offenses despite injuries keeping LeBron James, Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic in and out of the lineup, relying on a strong team bond that’s developed quickly through an even faster form of communication.

PechaKucha presentations are traditionally 20 slides, each with a photo. The speaker has 20 seconds to explain each slide for a total presentation time of 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

The Lakers’ version consists of five slides: where you’re from; favorite basketball memory; person, event or thing that has impacted your life; your non-basketball happy place; and dealer’s choice.

“A lot of times most of the interactions you’ll have with your teammates is on the basketball court,” forward Jake LaRavia said. “So it’s good to just kind of either learn some stuff about them outside of basketball, like hobbies and stuff like that, where they come from. And that just helps you kind of understand who the person is a little bit better.”

Assistant coach Scott Brooks started his presentation with a photo of a walnut, symbolizing the walnut farm he worked on during the weekends to help his family make ends meet. LaRavia showed a photo of his driveway as the origin of his basketball journey. Doncic spoke about how his daughter Gabriela changed his life.

One coach and one player present, and then they each nominate the next coach or player to go. With about half of the players and coaches left, Redick said he’s already noticing the holdouts actively planning their presentations before their nominations.

“We’re just constantly encouraging and empowering our guys to get connected,” Redick said. “I believe if you’re connected off the floor, you’re connected on the floor. You need buy-in to that. I’m not trying to take credit for my staff here. It’s the guys on the team, they’re bought into that.”

Doncic, for one, isn’t sold. He deadpanned that he doesn’t think the exercise helps.

Just the fact that Doncic made the joke meant it’s working.

Settled after last season’s jarring trade, the 26-year-old’s personality has started to emerge among his teammates. He is a sarcastic jokester who expresses love for his teammates by threading passes to them through pinhole-sized gaps in the defense and then trash talking them right soon after.

Lakers coach JJ Redick, with injured forward LeBron James next to him, questions a call along with guard Marcus Smart during the game against the Spurs on Wednesday.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Doncic’s smiling antics, whether he’s trying to sit on Austin Reaves’ lap on the sideline or swishing halfcourt shots in a contest with Reaves, Maxi Kleber and staff members, show just how connected the superstar feels to the team.

“Honestly, the feeling is I’m enjoying, very much, playing with these guys,” Doncic said. “AR [Reaves] can’t play. We’re still missing LeBron. So this team has a big potential. But everybody who steps on court, gives maximum, man, everybody. So it’s very enjoyable to play.”

Reaves is present on the road trip but will miss a third consecutive game Saturday. The Lakers ruled him out after practice Friday as his right groin injury progressed to a strain after previously being categorized simply as soreness.

James did not make the trip to Atlanta. He progressed to on-court basketball activities this week after missing four weeks because of a sciatica on his right side. He was playing one-on-one with coaches, Redick said. A stint with the South Bay Lakers is on the table, but no decision has been made.

The NBA’s all-time leading scorer hasn’t played a single minute for the Lakers yet. Reaves, averaging 31.1 points and 9.3 assists, has missed the last two wins, and Doncic has played in only half of the games. But the Lakers are still fifth in the NBA in offensive rating.

“It shows how professional we are,” guard Marcus Smart said of the team’s chemistry despite constantly changing personnel. “I think a lot of people, especially who aren’t in the brotherhood, they forget that you build a relationship with guys, and then one guy or a couple guys, you get traded and you got to rebuild another one. You don’t understand how tough that is, how much of a toll that takes.”

Just as Smart spoke, Doncic appeared behind the group of reporters, clapping loudly. Then Doncic made sure to put on the record that he would beat Smart at a team-building competition that night. Both smiled as they walked away.

At some point during the Lakers’ preseason, Luka Doncic will play in a game.

The question is when.

Even after being a full participant in practice Saturday, Lakers coach JJ Redick said that Doncic was “TBD” (to be determined) when asked if his star guard would play in Sunday’s exhibition game against the Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena.

Redick said Austin Reaves will play and that Marcus Smart will see action in his first preseason game of the season.

The Lakers will play six preseason games, three of them coming after the game against the Warriors.

After practice, Doncic was asked when he would play.

“I don’t know yet,” he said. “We got to talk about it — JJ and my team. So, I don’t know yet. But I’m probably going to end up playing two games of the preseason.”

When the regular season starts Oct. 21 at home against the Warriors, Doncic will not have running mate LeBron James beside him.

James was diagnosed with sciatica nerve issue on his right side, the Lakers announced to the media Thursday, saying that he’ll be re-evaluated in approximately three to four weeks.

James and Doncic formed a great partnership when they played together after the shocking blockbuster trade last February.

Not having James to start the season has to be unsettling for Doncic and the Lakers.

“It’s a big change,” Doncic said. “He’s a great player. He can help us a lot. But at the end of the day, our mentality needs to be next man up. We got a group of guys that have been practicing and hopefully LeBron can join us as soon as possible. We are going to obviously need him. But our mentality has got to be next man up. That’s it.”

Doncic will get plenty of help from Reaves, Smart, Deandre Ayton, Jared Vanderbilt and others with James out.

Still, the assumption is that Doncic will have to carry a heavy load with James sidelined.

“No. I don’t view it that way,” Doncic said. “I just want to play basketball. If I do less, if I do more, whatever it takes for me to get a win.”

James hasn’t practiced at all, but Doncic said that hasn’t stopped the two of them from figuring out the team can still function at a high level.

“It’s not everything about on the court. That’s what I’ve been saying,” Doncic said. “It’s about chemistry off the court, too. So, obviously, now it’s a little more off the court, but while we watched practices this week, we talked a lot about it.”

Lakers keep moving ahead without James

They had known over the summer that James had been dealing with “the nerve irritation,” Redick said, and so it wasn’t a total surprise James is going to be out with a sciatica issue.

Redick said James has been on the court “every day” doing individual work. He just hasn’t been able to practice with his teammates.

Redick was asked how James’ inability to participate in practice affected his game planning for practice and going into the season knowing that he won’t be available for a while.

” No, no effect on practice planning,” Redick said. “And we haven’t game-planned yet, so, no effect.”

Redick had not put too much emphasis on his starting lineup during training camp and during the preseason games.

But with James turning 41 in December, entering his 23rd season and being injured in training camp, Redick was asked if he could foresee having a lineup with James starting and another with him out.

“Potentially. Yeah,” he said. “Something that certainly has crossed my mind in the last couple days. Yeah…You hope that he’s back soon. That’s, those things are, those things can be tricky. So it, I don’t think it’s …

“We knew this going into camp, so it wasn’t like it’s changed anything for how we want to practice or what our philosophies are with the preseason games. It is unclear who’s gonna be, what the starting lineup is gonna be. That’s the reality until he is back. We’ll have to figure that out.”

Lakers star LeBron James will miss the first regular-season game as he continues to deal with a sciatica issue, the team announced Thursday afternoon. James will be reevaluated in three to four weeks.

The 40-year-old is entering an unprecedented 23rd NBA season. He had yet to practice with his teammates during training camp and he did not play in the Lakers’ first two preseason games.

Before the team’s announcement, coach JJ Redick told reporters at practice Thursday that “he’s on his own timeline.”

Added Redick, “You’ve got to play the cards you’re dealt. That’s a shame, but that’s just the reality. … No one has got any time with LeBron [James] hasn’t been on the court with the team, but that’s just the reality.”

While fellow star Luka Doncic has slowly been ramping up his conditioning following a busy summer that included playing for Slovenia in the EuroBasket tournament, Redick said he hopes that Doncic will play in at least one preseason game.

The Lakers have four more preseason games, the next on Sunday against the Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena.

What Luka Doncic did for his Lakers teammates was unique and different but no less impactful. It was a view inside the superstar guard’s way of leading the team.

In a team-building event Doncic organized, he took his teammates to a Porsche Driving Experience after practice Tuesday. He covered the entire cost of the event in which his teammates tested Porsche models on a track.

That so impressed Lakers center Deandre Ayton, bringing a smile to his face when asked about Doncic’s gesture.

“I truly appreciate Luka for that,” Ayton said. “I’ve never done that before, where the star players really look out for the team like that. Something like that is actually crazy. I’ve never heard of it or been in a Porsche before. So it definitely was my first time. I didn’t know that Luka was into cars like that. So, yeah, him and LeBron [James]. It was good seeing them behind the wheel. Seeing LeBron behind a car is dangerous.”

At 7 feet, Ayton was asked if he was comfortable driving the car.

“Yeah, they had some cars where they could hold a 7-footer,” he said. “I don’t know if it was custom or that’s how they’re made or some other factors. But just seeing LeBron James in a sports car pushing, I was like, ‘Yo, he knows cars.’ Him doing his thing, that was pretty cool to see.”

All summer and during training camp, the Lakers have talked about building team chemistry.

They talked about how doing things together off the court is an important part of building chemistry and of learning about a teammate.

Doncic, along with James, is considered one of their leaders and this was seen as magnanimous.

“Yeah, I mean, anytime, some of our max players and guys that have been in the league a while can put something on for the team is great,” Gabe Vincent said. “It’s great when we come together, do something a little bit more extravagant maybe than we would have on our own. Everyone gets to walk away with some cool [stuff].

“Most importantly, you get to do it together, you know what I mean? Sharing experiences is one of the quickest ways to grow closer. So, we’re very grateful to Luka for putting that one on. Everyone had a great time. It’s been great to see him get more comfortable.”

Vincent also did his part in a team-building moment.

Over the summer, he invited his teammates to the sand dunes in Manhattan Beach.

It was his show of leadership after so many workouts and his way to help build that team chemistry.

“So, I tried to just get guys together, most of them were young guys, but just get out on the sand, play a little spike ball, and work down the sand a little bit,” Vincent said. “It’s something to get out of this [practice facility] building, you know what I mean? In the summer, we spend so much time in the gym, grinding at the same thing over and over that sometimes you kind of need a change of scenery. So it’s something for us to do that was different, something for us to do together. We had a good time with it.”

Ayton getting more comfortable

After two preseason games and several more practices, Ayton is starting to get more comfortable with his role inside the Lakers’ offense.

He took more shots in the second game against the Warriors, making three of eight from the field, than in the first game against the Suns, missing both shots, and he scored more points against the Warriors (seven) than against the Suns (two). He blocked two shots in each game and has a total of 15 rebounds.

“How comfortable am I getting? Um, real comfortable, to where I am starting to know their plays and where the screens are and in general, Lakers terms and Lakers basketball,” he said. “So, it’s becoming quite easy just to read the floor and what [Lakers coach] JJ [Redick] likes and what he wants us to be known as, especially going into our rhythm offense and transition offense. So, yeah, the terminology and everything is starting to be easy and I feel in control on each end.”

The Lakers’ first practice of the week gave them hope of what they can look like whole when Marcus Smart takes the court.

Smart has been dealing with Achilles tendinopathy most of training camp and has been limited in practice. But coach JJ Redick said after practice Tuesday that Smart “did most of practice, including some live play.”

Redick said LeBron James and Luka Doncic — along with Maxi Kleber (quad) and Gabe Vincent — did “modified, mostly individual work.”.

“Marcus participated in some live [practice] and then was out at the end,” Redick said. “Yeah he was awesome. He was awesome. He, I think given the workload of today, I was impressed that he was able to sustain his level of intensity for as long as he did.”

Redick said Doncic was out for “load management.” Then Redick laughed.

Smart has been one of the NBA’s better defenders over his career, winning defensive player of the year for the 2021-22 season while playing for the Boston Celtics and being named to the All-Defensive first team three times — 2019, 2020 and 2022.

That will be a big part of his role with the Lakers, and during practice they got a glimpse of his defensive tenacity.

“Yeah, he guarded me a little bit at the first of practice,” Austin Reaves said. “You still feel that pressure. You feel the intensity that he brings on the defensive end, and that’s going to be big for us. We need that. We need him to be the best version of himself. With that communication that he brings, especially defensively, he’s been in the league a while. He knows how to win at the highest level. So, very excited to have him.”

After the Washington Wizards bought out his contract, Smart received several calls from Doncic about joining the Lakers.

Smart eventually signed with the Lakers for two years and $11 million.

At practice Tuesday, Smart left an impression.

“He looked great. He was moving great,” Jarred Vanderbilt said. “But like I said, his main power is that he’s vocal. So being able to help the guys. Communicate, that’s a big part of defense also. Being physical is one of them, but also being vocal, being able to communicate. I think he does both at a very high level. So, he can definitely help us on that end of the floor.”

Vanderbilt is the Lakers’ other top defender, his versatility allowing him to guard multiple positions.

He was asked to envision what the Lakers’ defense will be like with himself and Smart together on the court.

“Aw, man, just causing havoc,” Vanderbilt said. “Not only physically but just vocally. He’s a vocal guy as well, so it’s being the anchor of the defense, flying around, setting that tone defensively. Like, I’m excited. I can’t wait to share the court together.”

LeBron James ad

At some point after practice, the Lakers were asked if any one texted them about James’ cryptic post about “#TheSecondDecision” on Monday.

It left many wondering if James was talking about retiring.

He was not. It was about an ad for Hennessy that was posted on social media Tuesday morning.

“You guys are idiots,” Redick said when asked, laughing as he spoke. “We all knew it was an ad, right? No, I think most people that text me are also aware that it’s probably an ad, so it wasn’t. … Nobody was freaking out.”

Still, James is entering his NBA-record 23rd season.

“I just got a couple calls, like, ‘what is this?’” Reaves said, laughing.

Rui Hachimura wanted to know what was going on.

So he contacted James just to be sure.

“I mean, [I got] a couple texts. But I texted him too,” Hachimura said. “But he was using a [weird] emoji. I don’t even know. I didn’t understand at all. But he loves to do that type of stuff. Surprises, right?”

The plan, Luka Doncic said Thursday after the the Lakers’ third day of training camp, is to go “a little bit slower” during these sessions so he doesn’t totally tax his body after a summer of playing hoops with his country’s national team.

About a month ago, Doncic and Slovenia were eliminated from the 2025 EuroBasket in the quarterfinals by Germany, his 39 points not enough to salvage a win.

Doncic, who slimmed down this offseason, had been playing at a peak level then, but now he and the Lakers want to ease him back into things with the hopes of avoiding injuries.

“Yeah, obviously probably take it a little bit slower than the usual,” said Doncic, who will play in the Lakers’ first preseason game Friday night against the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert. “I had a busy summer. I think month, month and a half I was with national team. So, it was kind of a lot. But that got me ready for the preseason and obviously regular season. So, for me, I think it really helps.”

This camp for the Lakers and Doncic is all about being in tip-top shape, something coach JJ Redick stressed after they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

It has meant more drills, more running, more exertion.

“Yeah, we just talked about today,” Doncic said. “It’s not just physical shape. It’s mental shape too. So, that kind of goes both ways. Both are very important. We’re doing practice. It was great. Everybody’s in great shape. Everybody’s running a lot so it’s been great so far.”

Over the first three days of camp, the Lakers have seen Doncic dominate.

They have seen his creativity, his ability to find teammates from all places on the court.

“Yeah. I think I’m just reminded of his own greatness,” Gabe Vincent said. “He sees the floor so well. He could score from anywhere on the floor. He is always a threat. But he does such a good job of commanding defenses. He gets all 10 eyes on him and he sees the floor and he makes a good read nine times out of 10.”

Still, there are moments when the Lakers are learning how to play alongside Doncic. They are learning his style, which can only help them during the regular season

“Yeah, I think a bit,” Vincent said. “But like I don’t really see Luka as a premeditated individual, you know what I mean? He’s very much so reading and reactive, so you have to read and react with him. So I see it that way. He’s high IQ. LeBron [James is] pretty similar in that route as well. So, it’s definitely still learning him, learning what he likes and doesn’t like. And just playing at his level.”

Getting in shape

Since the end of last season, the mantra from Redick was for his team to be in championship shape.

To that end, at the close of the Lakers’ third day of training camp, Redick pushed his players in which they had to run for six minutes, 10 minutes and six minutes.

“I don’t know if they like me right now for what we just finished practice with,” Redick joked.

Apparently, Vincent said, it wasn’t an issue for him and his teammates.

“I told JJ about a week or two ago, I said, ‘If we all hate you, but we all hate you collectively, that’s great,’ ” Vincent said. “So, as long as we’re together in it. … Obviously no one wants to run at the end of a long practice. But we know the goal we have set for ourselves and we know what we’re trying to do moving forward and we all embraced it, we all got the run in and we all got better for it.”

Injury update

Redick said James, Maxi Kleber (quad), Marcus Smart (achilles tendinopathy) and Aduo Thiero (knee) will not play against the Suns.

Redick said Kleber had an MRI exam and that “he’ll be out a few days.”

“It’s a very minor thing with his quad,” Redick said. “But we’re going to be cautious with him, just like we will all our guys right now.”

Angel City winger Alyssa Thompson left for London on Wednesday afternoon as negotiations continued on a transfer that would send her from the NWSL to Chelsea of the Women’s Super League. But she might be running out of time since the WSL transfer window closes at 3 p.m. PDT Thursday, less than 24 hours after she boarded her flight.

“She wants to go to Chelsea and made it very clear she wants to leave,” said a person close to Thompson, who would speak only on condition of anonymity for fear of disrupting the delicate negotiations. “The rest is out of our hands.”

Thompson’s agent, Takumi Jeannin, declined to speak about the negotiations on the record while Angel City did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The speedy Thompson, 20, has already said goodbye to her Angel City teammates and did not suit up for the team’s win over Bay FC on Monday. She reportedly spent two days waiting to fly to London, where the transfer would be announced, only to repeatedly be told the deal had hit a snag.

If the transfer is agreed to, the fee for the U.S. international and World Cup veteran is expected to top $1 million and could smash the record $1.5 million the Orlando Pride paid Mexico’s Tigres for Lizbeth Ovalle last month.

USWNT defender Naomi Girma was the first $1-million transfer in women’s soccer history when she went from the San Diego Wave to Chelsea last January. Canadian Olivia Smith broke that record in July, going from Liverpool to Arsenal for $1.3 million.

Thompson was still an 18-year-old senior at Harvard-Westlake High when she became the youngest player taken in the NWSL draft, going to Angel City with the No. 1 pick in January 2023. That summer she became the second-youngest player to appear in a World Cup game for the U.S.

Thompson signed a three-year contract worth an estimated $1 million after the draft in 2023, then agreed to a three-year extension in January. She is the club’s all-time scoring leader with 21 goals in all competitions and she ranks sixth in appearances with 74. Her six goals in 16 games this season ranks second behind Riley Tiernan’s eight and she also has three goals and three assists in 22 games with the national team.

Thompson leaving Angel City would also mean leaving her sister and roommate Gisele, 19, a national team defender who was signed by Angel City in December 2023.

For Angel City, meanwhile, losing Thompson would strike a significant blow to the team’s playoff hopes. The club, which has won two straight and is unbeaten in its last four, is a point out of the league’s eighth and final postseason berth with eight games to play. But Angel City already lost two players — midfielders Alanna Kennedy and Katie Zelem — on transfers to London City of the WSL for undisclosed fees last month. And the week before that it traded forward Julie Dufour to the Portland Thorns for $40,000 in intra-league transfer funds and an international roster spot.

In addition, the club is without Scottish international Claire Emslie, who is on maternity leave, defender Savy King, who is on medical leave, and U.S. World Cup champion Sydney Leroux, who has stepped away from soccer to deal with her mental health.

After Monday’s win over Bay FC, Angel City coach Alexander Straus said the uncertainty over Thompson’s future with the team has been distracting.

“If I’m being honest, the last couple of days, it’s been difficult,” he said.

Straus said he learned Thompson would not be available just a day before the game.

“It’s been hard for me in my position when things change,” he said. “It changes our plans and changes the plans for the players.”

“But none of us is bigger than the club,” he added. “We focus on that, what is our value together. And if somebody leaves at some point — or somebody has left a couple of weeks ago — I think it does something to a group. It’s not easy, but it’s how you manage it.”

While the loss of a player like Thompson would hurt Angel City on the field, the likely seven-figure transfer fee would help ameliorate that. The same might not be true for NWSL, whose success and its marketing has long been built around the personalities playing in the league.

Yet in recent years it has lost Alex Morgan to retirement while national team stars including Girma, Crystal Dunn, Emily Fox, Lindsey Heaps (nee Horan), Catarina Macario and Korbin Shrader (nee Albert) have left to play in Europe.

Losing Thompson would be another blow.

As for Chelsea, it is the most successful club in the WSL, having won a domestic treble last season in Sonia Bompastor’s first season as coach. Bompastor replaced Emma Hayes, who left to take over the U.S. national team.

Chelsea will open its WSL season on Friday against Manchester City.

Ever since she visited Los Angeles with her national team three years ago, Sveindís Jane Jónsdóttir knew she wanted to play in the National Women’s Soccer League one day.

When the opportunity to play for Angel City presented itself, Jónsdóttir was eager to join the league and play for new Angel City coach Alexander Straus.

“When Angel City came up, I was just really excited about it,” she said. “I know Alex. I played against him when he was at Bayern and so I knew he was a great coach.”

Three new players have joined Angel City (4-3-6) during the past few months, delivering an infusion talent for a team that sits in 11th place in the 14-team NWSL standings. The league’s top eight teams advance to the playoffs.

Jónsdóttir, a forward with Icelandic national team experience, signed with Angel City on May 21. After finishing her stint with Frauen-Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg, Jónsdóttir joined her first Angel City practice on Tuesday afternoon.

Midfielder Evelyn Shores, who most recently played for the University of North Carolina, signed with Angel City on July 10. She has played for the U-23 U.S. women’s national team.

Goalkeeper Hannah Seabert, who was Sporting Clube de Portugal’s captain earlier this year, signed with Angel City on May 30 and has been training with the team for three weeks.

Seabert, a Riverside native and Pepperdine alum, spent most of her career playing abroad and wanted to return to the United States.

Angel City goalkeeper Hannah Seabert kicks the ball during a friendly against Bay FC on July 19 at PayPal Park in San Jose.

(Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

“As soon as Angel City opened up several years back, I just knew it was a team I wanted to be a part of,” she said of the franchise that began play in 2023.

When Seabert’s contract with Sporting CP expired, she pursued her goal of joining Angel City.

“When I came and visited here a couple weeks ago, it felt like a home away from home,” she said. “The facilities are amazing and the girls were so welcoming. It just felt right when I came here.”

Angel City sporting director Mark Parsons said the new players earned contracts because they aligned with the vision for the future of the club: winning.

“Who are the players that we believe represent where we’re going and can play for Angel City when we’re fighting for trophies,” Parsons said, referring to the question Angel City leaders asked before signing any new players.

While the new players present an infusion of fresh talent, Angel City also is benefiting from the return of a familiar face.

Forward Jun Endo, who tore her ACL in February 2024, played for the first time in 18 months during a friendly against Bay FC on Saturday. Endo was on the pitch for 30 minutes and scored the only goal of the game.

“If you’re missing a player like Jun Endo for as much time as Angel City has been missing her, of course it affects [the game] because you cannot replace a player like that,” said Straus, the team’s coach.

Angel City’s Jun Endo dribbles the ball during a friendly against Bay FC on July 19 at PayPal Park in San Jose.

(Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Straus said he expects Angel City to evolve and move closer to achieving its long-term championship goals with the new signees and Endo available to play.

Angel City, which is in the midst of an international break, plays a friendly Saturday against Carolina Ascent FC and resumes NWSL competition on Aug. 1 at Seattle Reign FC.

“Its not just about filling a roster,” Straus said. “We need quality. We need people who can make a difference for us and so we hope they will do this for us.

“We will be good now, but we will be better in January.”

A trio of Angel City players were called up to the women’s national team Wednesday for a pair of friendlies against Ireland and one with Canada.

Sisters Gisele and Alyssa Thompson will be reporting to their fourth training camp together when they arrive Monday in Commerce City, Colo., alongside teammate Angelina Anderson. A goalkeeper, Anderson is one of six players still looking for her first cap with the senior national team, making this 25-women roster one of the most inexperienced in recent USWNT history.

Four players will be training with the national team for the first time.

The U.S. will play Ireland on June 26 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City and again on June 29 at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati before finishing the FIFA competition window against Canada at Audi Field in Washington on July 2.

“We want to continue to improve our understanding of how we want to play and widen the player pool, and those are some of the key goals of this three-game window,” U.S. coach Emma Hayes said in a statement. “On this roster, we have players with a varied amount of experience, and my priority is to deepen the exposures required for international soccer.

“These are three challenging matches and as always, we want to win, but also to make sure we are ready for the next steps.”

In 13 months, Hayes has given 27 players their first call-up to the senior national team.

Returning to the roster this month will be World Cup and Olympic champion midfielder Rose Lavelle, whose 110 caps and 24 international goals are both tops among players called up this month. Lavelle is returning to the national team after losing more than six months following ankle surgery.

Missing, however, are most of the team’s Europe-based players, among them defenders Emily Fox and Crystal Dunn, midfielders Lindsey Heaps and Korbin Albert, and forward Catarina Macario. Hayes said those players would get the FIFA window off to recuperate after a long club season. Defender Naomi Girma, who missed much of Chelsea’s schedule because of injury, is the only player on the camp roster from outside the NWSL.

Anderson, 24, has played every minute for Angel City this season, allowing 21 goals and making 37 saves. Gisele Thompson, 19, leads the team with four assists while Alyssa, 20, is second with five goals. All three players will be with Angel City (4-5-3) for Friday’s game in Kansas City. The NWSL will then take nearly seven weeks off to allow players to compete for their countries in international competitions such as the Women’s Euro and the Copa América Femenina.

USWNT roster

Goalkeepers: Angelina Anderson (Angel City), Claudia Dickey (Seattle Reign) Mandy McGlynn (Utah Royals)

Defenders: Kerry Abello (Orlando Pride), Jordyn Bugg (Seattle Reign), Naomi Girma (Chelsea), Lilly Reale (Gotham FC), Tara McKeown (Washington Spirit), Avery Patterson (Houston Dash), Izzy Rodriguez (Kansas City Current), Emily Sams (Orlando Pride), Emily Sonnett (Gotham), Gisele Thompson (Angel City)

Midfielders: Croix Bethune (Washington Spirit), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns), Claire Hutton (Kansas City Current), Rose Lavelle (Gotham), Sam Meza (Seattle Reign), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns)

Forwards: Lynn Biyendolo (Seattle Reign), Michelle Cooper (Kansas City Current), Yazmeen Ryan (Houston Dash), Emma Sears (Racing Louisville), Ally Sentnor (Utah Royals), Alyssa Thompson (Angel City)

It doesn’t seem that long ago that Christen Press was helping the national team to consecutive World Cup titles. She was unstoppable then, a key cog in the greatest women’s soccer team in history.

Yet she played her 155th and final match for the U.S. in the Tokyo Olympics.

It doesn’t seem that long ago that Press, just 18 days removed from those Olympics, became the first player signed by expansion club Angel City. She was bringing the NWSL to her hometown and was being rewarded with what was then the richest contract in league history.

Yet she’s started just 10 games since then, losing most of the last three seasons to a stubborn anterior cruciate ligament injury that took four surgeries to repair.

Press eventually will be inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame, but she isn’t ready for that trip just yet. If her body isn’t always willing, her mind and her heart are still keen on the sport, so Press makes her most valuable contributions now in the quiet of the locker room.

At 36, she has completed the transition from wunderkind to elder stateswoman. And on a Angel City team with 13 players under the age of 25, her presence is being felt.

“It’s a different role. I wasn’t that type of person,” said Press, who admits she has grown into the job.

“When I was 20 I didn’t have a relationship with a senior player like they have with me. I’m enjoying the presence that I have with these young players.”

Press has paid special attention to Alyssa Thompson, the 20-year-old Angel City player whose early career may be most reminiscent of her own, taking the locker next to Thompson in the team’s spacious dressing room.

Both are Southern California natives who played soccer and ran track in high school, led their teams to CIF titles and won national player of the year awards. Both committed to play for Stanford — Press went, Thompson didn’t.

Angel City forward Alyssa Thompson controls the ball during a match against Seattle in October.

(Lindsey Wasson / Associated Press)

But Thompson’s career is just starting while Press is winding hers down. So the most valuable thing she can offer now is advice.

“The thing that I’m good at is scoring goals. It is an art and I love it,” Press said. “I’m now kind of showing Alyssa how I trained to become a goal scorer. How you can think about goal-scoring in a very nuanced and methodical way.

“I’m learning as I teach her. I’m seeing the ways that she approaches it differently. It’s just kind of a spirit of collaboration I see as a win-win for everybody.”

Thompson agrees, saying she appreciates the chance to learn from a master.

“She’s definitely my mentor,” Thompson said. “She’s entering a new era of her career and she still wants to continue to play and stuff like that. But when she’s not playing, she’s able to [offer] her guidance and support.”

Goalkeeper Angelina Anderson, the team’s vice captain and, at 24, a key member of Angel City’s youth movement, isn’t sure Press fully appreciates the impact she’s having. The extra work Press puts in with Thompson, for example, has also made Anderson better.

“After training she’ll pull me aside and say ‘Hey, Ang, can you stay? I’m going to play a few balls through for Alyssa.’ That alone, dealing with such an elite finisher, is making me better obviously,” said Anderson, who was recently called up to the national team for the first time.

“She’s probably had to change a lot; just her mindset and mentality going through her injury and being older. I think she’s embraced her role and she seems like she’s in a really healthy spot.”

Listen to Press for a moment and the depth of her wisdom, experience and intelligence is obvious. But that doesn’t exactly make her rare in the Angel City locker room. Ali Riley, Press’ former Stanford teammate, and Scottish international Claire Emslie also have played on multiple continents and in multiple international championships and have become mentors to the team’s younger players.

“I enjoy that,” Emslie said. “I definitely find myself saying things to the younger players that I remember getting told and I think it’s important to pass on that information and have those relationships.

“I want to help them as much as I can because they’re going to go on and have even better and more successful careers. If I can help them along the way, it’s rewarding.”

That approach seems to be working. Angel City (4-4-2) is in playoff position through 10 games despite starting six players younger than 25.

“It’s important to have experienced players like Christen around. Especially when you’ve got so many players that are so young and exciting and dynamic,” interim manager Sam Laity said.

How long Press continues to do that in person is uncertain. The one-year contract extension she signed in January ends when the season does and she has a budding business empire to manage, one that includes a wildly entertaining podcast and a social entrepreneurship company founded with former USWNT teammates Megan Rapinoe, Meghan Klingenberg and Tobin Heath.

But if her playing days are indeed numbered, she’s enjoying those she has left. And that may be the most important lesson Professor Press passes on to her young students.

“There’s only one thing I haven’t done in soccer and that’s enjoy it,” she said. “All of my peers retired and I’m still here. I’m still given this gift of being able to appreciate it, play with gratitude, be a role model. And when I think about Angel City and my legacy, I think about ‘wow, what an opportunity to show the next generation that this can — and should be — fun and rewarding and it’s a gift that we get to chase greatness.

“The truth is the other things that I’m doing, from a career standpoint, are more lucrative than playing for Angel City this season. [But] there’s no better job in the world. We get so wrapped up in winning and greatness and titles and trophies that sometimes we don’t just get to be there. Like, I run around for my job. And I’m grateful that I have the opportunity to do so.”

⚽ You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Corner of the Galaxy” podcast.

NFL team owners approved the participation of NFL players in the 2028 L.A. Olympic flag football competition at the league’s owners meetings on Tuesday.

The resolution permits NFL players currently under contract to try out for flag football, but limits only one player per NFL team to play for each national team participating in the Olympics. An exception was made for each NFL team’s designated international player, who is allowed to play for his home country.

Injury protections and salary cap credit will cover any players injured during flag football activities, and Olympic flag football teams must implement minimum standards for medical staff and field surfaces to be eligible to have NFL players on their rosters.

Flag football is one of five new sports in the 2028 Olympics and will make its Olympic debut, along with squash. There are five players per team on the field and each team builds a 10-person roster. The U.S. men’s national team has won five consecutive world championships.

This is a developing story. The Times will have more soon on the NFL’s vote.