Basketball legend Grant Hill will succeed Jerry Colangelo as the new managing director of USA Basketball’s men’s team following the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, per a press release issued on Saturday, via AP’s Tim Reynolds.
Hill, 48, will assume the role with a qualified resume, which includes 19 NBA seasons, seven All-Star team selections, being a member of the 2018 Basketball Hall of Fame class and helping lead Team USA to a gold medal in the 1996 Olympics.
“It’s just an incredible opportunity, also an incredible challenge,” Hill said. “I had the good fortune of participating in international play — the Pan American Games, of course the Olympic team — and I have been a fan of Team USA going back to the 1984 Olympic team when I first started to fall in love with basketball. The more I thought about it, the more intrigued, excited and the more willing I was to roll up my sleeves and move forward with this awesome responsibility.”
It will be no easy challenge for Hill to replace Colangelo, who joined USA Basketball in 2005 as managing director after Team USA won the bronze medal in 2004. The former Suns owner helped shaped the team for years to come, selecting players and coaches to help USA Basketball compete for gold. For three consecutive Olympics (2008, 2012, 2016), Team USA took home the gold led by Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and will play under current Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich in Tokyo. Hill intends to work closely with Colangelo during the Tokyo Olympics in preparation for taking over the reins.
“I intend to spend an incredible amount of time with Jerry, shadow him some this summer, and I think that experience will certainly help as we move forward,” Hill said. “He’s just an invaluable resource and has done a remarkable job, so you can’t help but learn from someone like Jerry.”
Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, talks about Hill succeeding Colangelo had been ongoing for months. NBA commissioner Adam Silver was a “big proponent” of Hill’s candidacy for the position, Wojnarowski adds.
Hill, who has worked as an analyst for Turner Sports covering the NBA and NCAA, will remain in that role after taking over the Team USA job, Reynolds reports. In the meantime, he is focused on the challenge of building and sustaining a winning national team.
“The brain is working,” Hill said.
More must-reads: