Team USA has named Sue Bird the women’s basketball team’s first managing director. This is considered a “no-win” job; just ask Grant Hill how hard that job was for the men’s team during this past cycle. Bird is one of those players who is very decorated in her legendary career with five gold medals, so she knows what it takes to win in the FIBA/Olympic Games and the WNBA.
The details of this job include choosing the coaches and players for the team this upcoming cycle. I think Sue is the right person for this job because, as a floor general for most of her career, she knows what it takes to run a ship and a team on the floor. Here’s a more detailed evaluation of this news.
Bird Joins to Help Shape Team USA
Team USA has not lost a game on the Olympic Stage or World Stage since 2006, as the team has 10 total gold medals and 11 world titles. However, Gabby Williams for France almost sent that gold medal game into overtime in 2024, and who knows what would’ve happened for the host nation and the U.S. in that scenario. So, Team USA felt it was time to get somebody to control the process of acquiring the talent needed to make a run. The Seattle Storm legend is grateful and ready to thrive in this opportunity for Team USA.
“I’m Excited,” Bird Said on the TODAY Show. “Obviously, as a player, I was able to represent our country, so [now] to do it in this position as well.”
USA Basketball CEO Jim Tooley is confident that he made the right choice for this very important role to keep the dominance of Women’s Basketball in the USA by picking the 4X WNBA Champion as the managing director. Tooley saying,
“Having known Sue for many years, I’m confident her leadership and knowledge will be a huge asset to the continued success of our women’s national team program,” he said in a statement, “and we’re excited to have her join us as we head towards the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympic Games.”
Final Thoughts
Bird knows the pressures of this situation as a player and knows that there will be pressure on this current iteration of Team USA. “Everybody who takes this job is in a no-win [situation],” Bird said in the same NBC News article. “The pressure is always there for USA Basketball. That’s how it was when I played, and that’s certainly how it is to this day.”
I’m confident that Bird is going to do an amazing job in this role because she has a lot of basketball knowledge and knows how the game should be played at all times. She will make sure that Team USA will stay the dominant force of women’s basketball on the world stage as they have been for decades. For more WNBA news, follow along with Total Apex Sports.
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