Team USA director Hill: No multi-year commitment needed for Olympic play

USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill said Monday that players don't need to commit to multiple years with the national team if they want to play in the Olympics.

"There's no commitment necessary, no, 'If you want to play in the Olympics, you have to play here,'" Hill told reporters on a video call, according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst.

"I understood why that was implemented, and I think it was tremendously successful ... But we feel like we had to make a change in that regard. So, no tryouts, no commitment."

USA Basketball's previous managing director, Jerry Colangelo, required players to make multi-year commitments if they wished to play for the Olympic team. Under Colangelo's watch, from 2005 to 2021, Team USA won four Olympic golds (2008, 2012, 2016, and 2021) after a disappointing bronze finish in 2004.

Following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic - before Hill took over the program in 2021 - USA Basketball got rid of its annual summer sessions in Las Vegas in non-competition years. There was no formal national team activity in 2022.

Hill adds that as the NBA has changed and adopted load management and offseason recovery methods for players, Team USA has to do the same.

"You have to adapt to the times," Hill said. "If you look at the NBA, it has changed tremendously. It's changed since I retired in 2013. Every generation's different, and it's important for us as leadership, particularly USA Basketball, to recognize that and be willing to adapt with that change."

Team USA has no firm commitments for this summer when the FIBA World Cup will take place in Manila.

The team will select 12 players before a training camp in Las Vegas in early August, and no roster spots will be up for competition, according to Windhorst.