USA Basketball will name Sue Bird, a five-time Olympic gold medalist and WNBA legend, its next managing director for the women’s national team in the lead-up to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, according to The Athletic. Per the report, the official announcement will take place on Thursday at the Nike headquarters in New York City as part of a shift in the “structuring” of USA Basketball.
In the role, Bird, 44, would have multiple responsibilities, including helping select both the player rosters and coaching staff for the Olympic and World Cup teams, which The Athletic pointed out is “a departure from a longstanding structure of using a committee to select players and coaches for national team rosters.”
For the 2024 Paris Olympics, the roster was selected by a committee led by Jen Rizzotti. Also involved in the process were South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, WNBA head of league operations Bethany Donaphin and Atlanta Dream general manager Dan Padover. By comparison, the U.S. men’s national team has used a managing director since 2005….
