PARIS– The United States men’s Olympic basketball team’s first practice after arriving in Paris was one of those practices that those who were there, watching behind closed doors, will talk about for a long time.
The players were divided equally. Go play, they told them. What happened next set the tone for the rest of the team’s time at the Paris Games.
“We warmed up and then it got competitive,” said U.S. assistant coach Erik Spoelstra. “And it was then that you realized that this team really cares and that you felt a responsibility to play and compete at the highest level. And secondly, the level of talent on that floor…we knew it could exceed all expectations.”
A few weeks later, they won gold.
The mission was completed on Saturday night, when the USA won gold for the fifth consecutive Games, beating France – in Paris, no less – 98-87. Stephen Curry scored 24 points, all on 3-pointers, while Kevin Durant won his fourth Olympic gold and LeBron James won his third gold and fourth medal overall.
And then the party began. It will soon be time to start thinking about how to do this again in 2028, when the Olympics return to Los Angeles. Grant Hill will be back as managing director of the men’s national team and is already excited about what’s to come.
“I’ve done a lot of things in my life,” Hill said. “And that’s something that certainly consumes you, but it’s incredibly rewarding.”
Especially when the team wins.
There will be changes between now and 2028. James will be 43 years old and will likely be retired by then (although with James, never say never). It may seem doubtful that Curry and Durant will still be playing four years from now, but then again, who knows. Some players like Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo have already said they want to join; others like Anthony Edwards, Devin Booker, Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton appear to be locks if they want to continue.
No decision is set and this will not change for now. Hill will take a well-deserved break. The next big international tournament is the World Cup in Qatar in 2027. It’s safe to say that it will be sometime in 2025 before he starts to get serious about putting together a group for it.
“In four years, a lot can and will happen,” Hill said. “Now moving away from that a little bit, just letting things play out and seeing how the guys continue to develop and seeing what kind of season the guys are going to have over the next year or so. And then at some point you start this whole process again.”
When he took over, Hill said he wanted a channel for players and coaches. People leave the program, others move up. Steve Kerr made it clear when he agreed to replace Gregg Popovich as US coach that it would be for the 2023 World Cup and the Paris Olympics. It seems likely that the next national team coach will be Spoelstra or Tyronn Lue, given that both were Kerr’s assistants the past two summers.
And the pool of player candidates for the 2027 World Cup in Qatar and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics already has a number of obvious candidates. Adebayo has said he wants to play and Davis — admittedly, with a new gold medal around his neck possibly influencing his mood — said Saturday night he thinks he’ll play in 2028. Edwards, Haliburton, Tatum and Booker (who was incredible at those Olympics) will be 31 or younger when the Los Angeles Games take place. Edwards will only be 27 years old that summer.
Add in some of the players from the World Cup squad – Paolo Banchero, Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart would all be among the candidates on that list – and there are already a number of logical options. There will be more, many more.
“We love having some of these young guys on the roster now and on the team so they can be part of the next group,” Kerr said. “But we actually didn’t think about that when we put together the team. We just put the best group possible to win now and we will worry about 2028 in four years.”
USA Basketball announced in April 2021 that Hill would be Jerry Colangelo’s replacement as managing director of the men’s national team. Colangelo officially stepped down about four months later when the Tokyo Games ended, ending a run of four Olympic gold medals and two world championships.
The work seems simple, but it is not. The administrative director is largely tasked with choosing the best players and coaches to accept to be part of a program where anything less than a gold medal will be considered a failure.
“I don’t know if I fully understood what all of this entailed when I was announced or even considering it,” Hill said. “It’s been a marathon – maybe an ultramarathon, one of those 100-mile races. But everything, the preparation, the game planning, the strategy, the logistics, there were really great moments and difficult moments. All of this was absolutely incredible. It has been more challenging, more fulfilling and fulfilling than I could have imagined.”
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