Kahleah Copper’s willpower again brings her opportunity, this time at the FIBA World Cup

It’s still too soon for Kahleah Copper to talk about the Sky’s Game 5 loss to the Sun in the WNBA semifinals.

That was her message to some of her U.S. teammates when they arrived in Australia for the FIBA World Cup and they told her they thought it would be the Sky hoisting another championship trophy. Not wanting to talk about her team’s abrupt playoff exit is just fine under current circumstances. Right now, Copper needs to occupy her mind with another goal — winning gold.

“It’s therapeutic in a way,” Copper said. “To be here and have an opportunity to continue to play is a blessing.”

Copper isn’t getting just any opportunity to continue playing, she was named to Team USA’s 12-player World Cup roster Monday. The new-look team began competition for its fourth consecutive World Cup gold medal Wednesday with an 87-72 win against Belgium and continued with preliminary-round games against Puerto Rico and China.

The preliminary round concludes Tuesday before the quarterfinals begin Wednesday.

Minnesota Lynx coach/GM Cheryl Reeve is leading the team that will not feature Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles or Sylvia Fowles for the first time since 2010. This is the first U.S. World Cup roster in 20 years that does not feature Bird.

Copper is one of eight players who will be making their World Cup debut, along with her Rutgers teammate, the Sky’s 2015 17th overall draft pick, Betnijah Laney, who plays for the New York Liberty.

Reeve was impressed by the confidence and leadership that Copper has developed since she last saw her at a Team USA camp in 2019 under Dawn Staley’s leadership. Those characteristics that captured the attention of Reeve are the product of Copper’s commitment to the game. Something that Sky coach/GM James Wade and her Chicago teammates see every day.

A lot has changed for Copper since the Sky acquired her in a 2017 trade for Elena Delle Donne. She has two more All-Star nods to her name, a WNBA Finals MVP award and Spanish League and Euroleague MVP honors. One constant, and the quality that Wade credits for her ever-evolving ceiling, is her willpower.

“Her willpower matches her talent,” Wade said. “Actually, it probably supersedes her talent. Not every player has that.”

There’s a hashtag Copper is frequently found using on Twitter, “Just a kid from North Philly.” It holds more meaning than she’ll ever be able to explain in 280 characters. That hashtag defines so much of who Copper is, not just where she’s from.

When Wade talks about her willpower or her teammates talk about her heart that guided them to a franchise-best 26-10 regular season or Reeve talks about the qualities of her game she’s impressed by, they’re referencing the North Philadelphia in Copper.

Right now Copper is the most veteran member of the Sky under contract for the 2023 season. It’s a fact that signals she is the piece Wade will build his team’s future around. Whether he re-signs Courtney Vandersloot or convinces Allie Quigley and Candace Parker to return for another season, it will be in part a credit to the piece he already has — a kid from North Philly.