Sue Bird to be named US womens national teams managing director in major power shake-up

Sue Bird is going for Olympic gold medal No.6, but her first in an administrative role.Bird is expected to be named managing director for the U.S.

women’s national basketball team for the upcoming Olympic cycle, The Athletic reported Tuesday.Bird’s appointment, which will reportedly be announced Thursday, will mark a major change in the way USA Basketball goes about fielding its national team player rosters and coaching staff.As of now, a committee currently makes those decisions.But Bird is expected to assume a role similar to the one Grant Hill held on the men’s side from 2021 to 2024, where she’ll be mostly responsible for the final say, according to the report.Bird, 44, seems like an obvious choice to be the women’s first managing director as USA Basketball prepares for the pursuit of its ninth consecutive Olympic gold medal after Team USA narrowly escaped with one at the Paris Olympics last summer.Bird, a Syosset, Long Island native, is synonymous with winning.

She captured five Olympic gold medals and four World Cup titles suiting up for the red, white and blue.She’s also a four-time WNBA champion, five-time Russian National league champion, five-time EuroLeague champion and two-time NCAA champion.Though Bird retired from the WNBA in 2022, she remained immersed in the game and has a lot of influence.The U.S.

women’s national team for the Paris Olympics caused quite a stir after Caitlin Clark was left off the final roster.Diana Taurasi already said the 2024 Summer Games would be her last Olympics.With Taurasi kicking her feet up in retirement, a new wave of young, exciting prospects, including Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers, will be making their cases to make the U.S.

women’s national team roster for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.One thing is for certain: Bird will have her work cut out for her as other national programs — including France, Germany and Australia — continue to improve their talent pools....