EUGENE, Ore. — After the women’s 200-meter final was over, and she secured a spot on the U.S. Olympic team, McKenzie Long said she heard the craziest thing from Gabby Thomas.

“She said she had a dream about me,” a beaming Long said, holding a bouquet of white and purple flowers, a bronze medal hanging from her neck. “She was like, ‘Yeah, I had a dream that you were going to be an Olympian.’” I was like, ‘You didn’t want to tell me this before we got out here on this line.’”

Thomas said she didn’t want to jinx the dream, so she kept it to herself until after the race. But Long — before perhaps the biggest race of her life, in her best event, with a chance to make Paris — could’ve used the anxiety relief.

That proclamation from Thomas, Long implied, might’ve worked wonders before the race. Because belief from an idol works wonders for confidence.

“I literally tell her all the time, ‘I want to be you.’ She’s inspiring,” Long said. “That’s my goal. I want to be like Gabby Thomas.”

It’s taken some getting used to for Thomas, this new skin she’s in. The one with expectations. The one with experience. The one on the marquee.

Sometimes, she said, she wishes she could slink back into a former normalcy, when it was just about the running and the simple camaraderie of sport. Those days, though, are over.

“Great athletes are under pressure, and I just understand that. And so, if I want to be a great athlete, if I want to be among the names of Sanya (Richards-Ross), Allyson (Felix) … you just have to compete under pressure and accept that’s part of it.”

Thomas, 27, is embracing this escalating pedestal she’s on. Saturday’s 200-meter final was confirmation of her eliteness.

She smoked all comers in 21.81 seconds, including Sha’Carri Richardson. And that’s two-tenths of a second slower than her best time. In one of the most glorified events in sprint, Thomas is America’s premier figure.

Thus, she is poised for stardom. Face-of-franchise material coming into her prime. She already has two Olympic medals — a bronze in the 200 and silver in the 4×100 relay in Tokyo. Last year, she won a silver in the 200 and a relay gold in the world championships. A gold in the 200 in Paris, with the likely chance of winning another in relay, would vault her to another stratosphere of the nation’s consciousness.

Thomas has the total package. She has an aura people love. She’s marketable. She’s has the kind of depth that makes her platform purposeful. She’s got seniority and respect.

Which is why college superstars such as Long are shaping their dreams into her likeness.

“It’s really humbling actually,” Thomas said. “I remember feeling that way about other athletes that I watched. My last Olympic trials, I felt that way about Allyson Felix. I felt that way about Jenna Prandini, who I’m still running against. … So to have a younger athlete look at me and say that just feels so surreal. But it makes me happy. It really feels like it’s giving me purpose.”

Most important, Thomas is excellent.

The 5-foot-9 Atlanta native, by way of Florence, Mass., is a refined elegance on the track. The efficiency of her form and gracefulness of her stride can make it feel like she isn’t running as fast. Speed doesn’t look so laborious when Thomas runs, though no less explosive.

Now, she’s got experience on her side. She can feel the benefits.

“Actually, yeah, I do, and I’m so grateful for that,” Thomas said. “Because there is a lot more pressure when you already have medals, when people know your name. But there’s also comfort in knowing, ‘OK, I have done this before.’ I just feel that maturity. I feel like, ‘OK, I’m going to go out and execute and I’m not going to let the nerves get to me.’ And that’s a feeling that just — you can’t explain, but it is so comforting to know that.”

Long knew what was up. The sensation from Ole Miss, loved her chances once she saw the lane assignments. Not just because Lane 7 is a decent combination of a looser curve and vision of the field. But because Thomas was in Lane 8.

“I wanted to stay on top of Gabby’s hip,” Long said. “I knew once I did that, I would position myself the way that I wanted to.”

Long rode Thomas to a time of 21.91 seconds, finishing third, just behind Brittany Brown’s 21.90. Richardson — America’s 100-meter champion, who’d looked dominant in the 200 leading up to the final — finished fourth at 22.16. While her bid for the 100/200 double ended, Richardson will still be one of the United States’ big attractions when she makes her debut in Paris, along with the ever-popular Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.

They’ll be joined by Thomas.

But this star wasn’t born, not in the traditional sense of a moment birthing her luminance. This star was forged, cultivated.

A main component of this evolution, which has her on this cusp, is Thomas wanting it.

She didn’t always. Track was about a love of running and personal growth. She loved what the competition brought out of her, the development and improvement. As she got better and became significant in the sport, the attention was but a byproduct to endure.

Greatness at this level is an investment. Where she’s headed, based on this trajectory she’s been on since Harvard, required internal permissions. Because of what it extracts, and what it exposes her to, Thomas needed to adopt this into her purpose.

She has. Now she’s ready. She’s matured to the point she believes she can handle the spotlight of stardom, the pressures and burdens that accompany its glory. All that’s left is to win on the biggest stage. She believes it’s her time.

“I definitely feel like a vet at this point,” she said, “but I also feel like I have not reached my full potential. I feel like I can still. I feel like this is my year.”

GO DEEPER

Gabby Thomas: The U.S. track star with a bigger purpose beyond Olympic medals

(Top photo of Gabby Thomas and McKenzie Long embracing after qualifying for Paris in the 200-meter: Patrick Smith / Getty Images)

Isaiah Hartenstein, a New York Knicks fan favorite for his hustle and prowess in the paint, won’t be playing his home games in Madison Square Garden next season. 

Hartenstein has reportedly agreed to terms on a three-year, $87 million deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder, joining the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed a season ago, which needs some more size and physicality. 

In doing so, Hartenstein reportedly turned down the Knicks’ offer, which couldn’t surpass four years and $72.5 million, per The New York Post. That offer came to Hartenstein “as soon as the NBA Finals finished. 

The Thunder’s offer is reportedly front-loaded, meaning Hartenstein is set to make over $30 million next season to play in Oklahoma City. That is about $5 million more than the Knicks’ All-Star point guard, Jalen Brunson, is set to make next season, though he could be getting an extension himself. 

However, Hartenstein would reportedly have been paid about $16 million in the first year of his Knicks contract if he were to sign it.

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It will be interesting to see Hartenstein’s role with the Thunder, given the presence of Chet Holmgren, who plays center for the playoff contender. But GM Sam Presti, who previously traded with the Chicago Bulls for veteran Alex Caruso, knows the team needs rebounding and that was Hartenstein’s bread and butter in New York for head coach Tom Thibodeau. 

Hartenstein, a second-round pick by the Houston Rockets in the 2017 NBA Draft, notched a career-high 8.3 rebounds per game for the Knicks last season. That production can be attributed to Hartenstein being called upon to increase his minutes with Mitchell Robinson being injured for most of the regular season.

Josh Hart #3 and Isaiah Hartenstein #55 of the New York Knicks react during the fourth quarter against the Indiana Pacers in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Second Round Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on May 8, 2024 in New York City. (Elsa/Getty Images)

Hartenstein had 49 starts out of his 75 regular-season games last season — the most he had in his career before that was eight starts with the Knicks during the 2022-23 campaign. 

He’s also good on the defensive end, totaling 1.1 blocks and 1.2 steals per game, and held opponents to below 53% shooting at the rim. 

Hartenstein can score, too, owning a 64.4 field goal percentage with 7.8 points averaged per game last year. 

After bouncing around the league with the Rockets, Denver Nuggets, Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Clippers, Hartenstein was believed to have found a home in New York after his role in their Eastern Conference semifinals run last season. 

Isaiah Hartenstein #55 of the New York Knicks looks on during Game Five of the Eastern Conference Second Round Playoffs against the Indiana Pacers at Madison Square Garden on May 14, 2024 in New York City. The Knicks won 121-91.  (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

But being that journeyman for years, Hartenstein wasn’t going to turn down a lucrative deal to join another contender in the Midwest. 

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More than 24 hours into free agency, armed with LeBron James’ willingness to take less than a maximum salary should the Lakers find worthy use for their midlevel exception, and the team has yet to make any moves of note.

While the Lakers did agree to re-sign Max Christie ahead of the opening of free agency, when teams can negotiate with players from other teams, the Lakers’ roster crunch and salary-cap situation have kept them from making any moves.

The Lakers’ pursuit of Klay Thompson ended Monday with the four-time NBA champion leaving Golden State to accept a sign-and-trade deal with the Dallas Mavericks.

The team’s next step could be to pursue free-agent wing DeMar DeRozan, an elite midrange scorer and playmaker without the qualities as a point-of-attack defender and three-point shooter that made Thompson the Lakers’ priority. It’s unclear how serious interest would be from either side.

The Mavericks reportedly agreed to a contract with Thompson for three years and $50 million. And while some people with secondhand knowledge of the negotiations between the Lakers and Thompson believe he was offered more years and more money by the Lakers, the team would’ve needed to execute a sign-and-trade deal to create that space. If not, the most the Lakers could’ve offered him was the full midlevel exception, which could be for four years beginning with a starting salary of $12.8 million — provided James’ next contract with the Lakers allows for them to use that exception.

If the Lakers are unable to make meaningful moves with that exception, James is expected to sign for the maximum.

In Dallas, Thompson will be the starting small forward next to Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving for a team that played in the NBA Finals last season.

Thompson, who turned 34 in February, played 77 games for Golden State last season, averaging 17.9 points while shooting 38.7% from three-point range. It was his second full season after sitting out two-plus years because of a knee injury and a ruptured Achilles tendon.

Thompson grew up a Lakers fan and a Kobe Bryant disciple, telling The Times while in high school, he used to linger in the Staples Center loading dock just to wait for a brief interaction with his favorite player.

“My favorite part of the night was going down to the tarmac to see him leave, just so I could say, ‘Hey,’ to him and see what he was driving, what he was wearing, how he’s walking,” Thompson told The Times in 2021. “Those were just such fond memories for me, being in the Staples Center parking lot.

“Him just knowing my name was enough for me to tell people he was my ‘good friend.’”

Thompson became an unrestricted free agent after 13 seasons with the Warriors, where he formed on half of the “Splash Brothers” with his backcourt mate Stephen Curry.

One of the best shooters of his era, Thompson also was one of the league’s top defenders until he suffered a serious knee injury during the 2019 NBA Finals. During his recovery from that injury, he ruptured his Achilles, costing him another season.

In the 178 games since his return, Thompson has averaged 19.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists while shooting nearly 40% of his 9.7 three-point attempts per game.

But last season, the Warriors struggled and it became clear their plans for Thompson didn’t fully align with his plans. The Warriors moved him to the bench for the first time since his rookie season. Instead of offering him a maximum contract extension, Golden State was ready to give him two years and $48 million ahead of last season, according to reports. He declined.

The Lakers’ lack of flexibility can be tracked to last summer when the team used player options to entice three minimum signings — Christian Wood, Jaxson Hayes and Cam Reddish. All three picked up their player options, as did starting point guard D’Angelo Russell.

The team added rookies Dalton Knecht and Bronny James during the NBA draft, leaving them with only two roster spots leading into free agency. Christie took one of those spots by staying with the Lakers while the other belongs to LeBron James, once he signs his new deal.