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USA Basketball is feeling the pressure after Caitlin Clark was left off the 2024 Paris Olympics team. As a response, the organization brought in an expert to handle roster decisions ahead of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
WNBA legend — and sure-fire Hall of Famer — Sue Bird was named to the newly-created position of managing director at USA Basketball, it announced Thursday. In her new role, Bird will be responsible for "selecting both the player rosters and coaching staff for both the Olympic team and the World Cup team," per The Athletic.
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The position is similar to the one held by Grant Hill on the men's side. Hill took over as Team USA's managing director on the men's side in 2021, and helped assemble a men's team that took home the gold medal at the 2024 Olympics.
The women's team also took home the gold medal at the 2024 Olympics, though the team's roster came under scrutiny after Clark failed to make the team. Clark had just come off a sensational career at Iowa, and was roughly a month into her rookie season with the Fever when the decision was made. There were legitimate reasons for Clark not making the squad initially, but she quickly stepped up her game and became one of the best players in the WNBA after the snub.
Prior to Bird's hiring, a committee was responsible for assembling the talent on the women's national team. That responsibility will now fall to Bird.
She's more than qualified for the role. In 19 seasons in the WNBA, Bird made 13 All-Star teams, eight All-NBA teams and was a four-time WNBA champ. She also starred on five different Olympics teams, winning the gold medal in all five of those appearances.
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The U.S. women's national team has been a dominant force in international play. The team took home the gold medal in the last eight Olympics, with Bird playing a major role during that stretch. The team also won the gold medal in 1984 and 1988.
With Bird officially installed in the role, her first step will be coming up with a preliminary list of talent for the 2028 Olympics. She's already started writing down some names, per the Associated Press.
"Of course I've started to think about it, jotting some names down here and there," Bird said. "It's the first priority without a doubt. There are so many qualified coaches in college and the WNBA."
That won't be an easy task. Given the dominance of the U.S. women's national team, Bird will have some tough decisions to make ahead of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
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