USAB: Sue Bird tapped as managing director of Women’s National Team

The quest for international basketball glory has intensified in the United States and Canada this past week. Here’s a round up of the big national team news:

Sue Bird tasked with tough Team USA decisions in new role

Congratulations to Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier, Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong for making the USA Basketball Women’s National Team for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Quite possibly, Diana Taurasi will also be a member of the team, coming out of retirement to go for another gold.

Yes, that might be an exaggeration of the accusations of UConn nepotism that has infected USA Basketball over the years. And despite her #BleedBlue roots, Sue Bird is more than qualified to objectively serve as the first-ever managing director of the USA Basketball Women’s National Team.

Bird, a five-time gold medalist for Team USA, will be charged with compiling the coaching staff and roster for the women’s national team ahead of international competitions, a role that has existed on the men’s side since 2005 and currently is occupied by Grant Hill; previously, a committee made these decisions.

According to USA Basketball CEO Jim Tooley, the organization has been planning to establish a women’s managing director since after the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo. Bird will serve a four-year term, aligning with the Olympic cycle.

While naming a roster for the 2028 LA Olympics will be Bird’s highest-profile, most-scrutinized task, her first challenge arrives later this year, when she must select the members of the team that will participate in November qualifying games for the 2027 FIBA World Cup. She also will need to name a new head coach for Team USA, as Cheryl Reeve’s tenure in charge ended with last summer’s Paris Olympics.

Bird, unsurprisingly, is embracing the pressure that comes with extending the Americans’ reign of international basketball dominance, sharing in her introductory press conference:

This is a different type of pressure. I’m hoping to bring all that I learned as a player, all my experience, all my understanding. The whole goal is to win a gold medal, and it feels at times that’s the only option. … I know what it’s like to be a player, know what it’s like as a player to build teams and have teams come together and see what clicks.

Is Team USA entering its Kara Era?

Maybe someone who once wore the Big Orange could lead the Red, White and Blue?

Duke head coach Kara Lawson, who, as a Tennessee Lady Vol, faced off against Bird and the Huskies during the height of the programs’ rivalry in the early 2000s, was named the head coach of Team USA for the 2025 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup, which will be held in Chile in late June. She’ll be assisted by Old Dominion head coach Delisha Milton-Jones and Oklahoma head coach Jennie Baranczynk.

Because the tournament, which is held every two years, often has conflicted with the WNBA season, college stars often have populated the American team.

Lawson, fresh off leading the Blue Devils to the Elite Eight in the 2025 NCAA Tournament in her sixth season as head coach in Durham, should be well equipped to steer a squad of American collegians. She also has significant experience as a coach of various USA Basketball teams, including leading the 3×3 team to a gold medal at the Tokyo Games before serving as a 5×5 assistant for the gold medal-winning team in Paris.

That resume suggests that Lawson could be a strong candidate to succeed Reeve as head coach of senior national team for the forthcoming Olympic cycle.

Team Canada nails head coach hire with Nell Fortner

The national team north of the border also made a notable move this week, hiring Nell Fortner, who recently retired from her head coaching position at Georgia Tech, as the head coach of Canada’s Senior Women’s National Team.

Fortner owns an accomplished coaching resume at the collegiate, WNBA and international levels, headlined by a successful four-year term as the head coach of Team USA from 1997 through 2000. Over at Raptors HQ, Chelsea Leite goes deeper on what Fortner’s hire means for a Canadian team that has consistently disappointed in major international competitions.