USA Basketball Moving Women to Men’s Model Under Sue Bird

USA Basketball will announce Sue Bird as the managing director for the women’s national team Thursday morning, a source confirmed to Front Office Sports. 

Bird’s new role is a major change for USA Basketball. Previously, the women’s team and coaching staff was named by committee; now, that will be Bird’s job.

It mirrors how things work on the men’s side, where Grant Hill picks players and coaches for the Olympic and World Cup teams.

The news was first reported by The Athletic.

The move brings the women in line with how the men have operated for 20 years. Longtime NBA GM Jerry Colangelo held the role from 2005 to 2021 before Hill replaced him. 

Bird’s résumé is more in line with Hill’s, who also took the job with limited executive experience. Hill has been part of the Atlanta Hawks ownership group since 2015, while Bird became a co-owner of the Seattle Storm in 2024. But both are largely known for their elite playing careers. Hill, who was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2018, led Duke to two NCAA championships before embarking on an 18-year NBA career which included seven All-Star nods. 

He won a gold medal with Team USA in 1996. Last summer he won his first in an administrative position after selecting the team that won gold at the Paris Olympics. 

Now, Bird—a four-time WNBA champion—will go after her sixth gold medal and first as an executive as she embarks on the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympic cycles. Los Angeles will be the host city for the 2028 Olympics, marking the first time the Games have been in the United States since the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

The U.S. women’s national team further solidified its dominance winning its eighth straight Olympic gold medal this summer. The team, led by Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, narrowly beat France 67–66 to become the first basketball team in Olympic history to win eight consecutive gold medals.

It’s not clear who Bird will tap as coach for the next Olympic cycle. Dawn Staley and Geno Auriemma led the two gold-medal teams before Reeve; only Auriemma coached for two cycles.

Bird’s appointment precedes a potentially younger iteration of the women’s national team marked by new prospects including Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers, none of whom were selected for the team in Paris. There are questions regarding a number of veteran players returning, including guard Chelsea Gray and center Brittney Griner. 

Clark was left off the 2024 Olympic roster by the committee, drawing heavy criticism. The committee cited Clark’s limited participation in Team USA camps leading up to the Olympics.

However, with the retirements of Diana Taurasi—and Bird herself after Tokyo—the women’s national team is on the precipice of a new era. 

Bird will be responsible for steering it.