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Along the way, when asked this season of his eventual Olympic job, Spoelstra had made clear that USA Basketball Managing Director Grant Hill and Team Director Sean Ford are keeping him up to speed, while also respectful of his day job. “Right now, there’s not a whole lot of action going on,” Spoelstra said. “I’ve kept in touch with both Grant Hill and Sean Ford, and we met up probably two months ago. But it was more general talks of two summers from now and scheduling, and what that’ll look like. We’ll probably get together in some fashion this summer for a little bit more extended time. I don’t know if we’ll do anything with players, but certainly we’ll meet. “I love the whole process, so of course when we play and compete against teams, there’s players that will come to mind. But I’m not sweating that right now. That’s really for Grant. It’ll be a collaborative effort. But there’s plenty of time for that.”
Sam Smith: The Bulls made offers: Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Eddie Jones, Grant Hill, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, literally every single one. And they ran away, fast. They just ran away from playing after Michael Jordan. (…) While all these other great players ran away from the Jordan shadow, Kobe Bryant ran to it. He was like the firefighter running to the fire. He was the policeman who ran toward the 9/11 terrorist attack. Everybody else was running away for safety, and he was running toward it.
Grant Hill: I think you you know, the World Cup and and the Olympics are very different. Um, you know, I think the Paris Olympics in 24 certainly hopeful with the 28 Olympics in Los Angeles, players wanted to play. They wanted to be a part of that and we're real grateful and thankful for that. You know, it's a little bit of a of a tougher sell with the World Cup if I'm being honest. And so, it's an opportunity, I think, to really the idea of really truly building a roster. And, you know, I loved the guys that we had in in in 2023 in World Cup. And, uh, we came close. You know, we [clears throat] we we we competed, we played hard. Offensively, we were the most efficient offensive team since 2004 in in terms of USA basketball. We were also the the least uh efficient defensive team since 2004.
But now that the salutations for the honor bestowed upon Spoelstra to take over for Steve Kerr as U.S. coach are finished, the next order of business for him, for Hill, and for Sean Ford, who oversees day-to-day operations for the men’s national team, is to stop the bleeding at the World Cup. “We have not fared well,” Hill said. “Spo and I were together in Manila in ’23 and and went through the highs and the lows of that experience. I know I’ll do better in terms of putting together the best roster we possibly can. I’ve learned a great deal since that experience. But it won’t be easy and we’re in it to win, and we understand the rest of the world has grown. The game has expanded, as it should, and as I say, it’s great for the NBA – it makes it tough for us but we’re not afraid of tough and we welcome that challenge.”
Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton were the two holdovers from the last World Cup team to play for the U.S. in Paris. “We have some time, and one of the great things is to see who emerges,” Hill said. “You have two years before the World Cup, and it seems like every season there are players who take a step in their development and become better players, all star players, players whose games translate to international play. “It’s great to get these players in the pipeline,” Hill continued. “The great thing is, yes, the world is getting better, but we are too. We still have some great players in this country, great young players. And you know, it’s on me to get out and recruit and you know, sort of share with guys the importance of doing this.”
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Hill said there have not yet been any discussions about whether Spoelstra’s tenure as Team USA’s head coach will extend beyond the 2028 Olympics. “His leadership skills, basketball intellect, ability to connect with people, players, his staff, his ability to collaborate just kind of checked all the boxes,” Hill said of Spoelstra. “I came away even more impressed with him as a coach, as a leader, as a man, as a father, and he’s thrilled. We are thrilled. I mean, we got our guy.”
Kidd saw shades of another former Duke star in Flagg's game: Grant Hill, who shared the Rookie of the Year award with Kidd in 1994-95, when the 6-foot-8 Hill ran the point a lot for the Detroit Pistons. Kidd saw the same phenomenal blend of feel and force in Flagg that Hill had coming out of Duke. "I saw that, too," Hill, who as managing director of Team USA invited Flagg to join the program's select team and called some of his college games for CBS, told ESPN. "He tries to play the complete game. You look up and he's got 22 points and it doesn't even feel like he looked to score. He's so unselfish. He defends. He just tries to do what's necessary to win games."
The NBA returns to NBC and Peacock next month. And during the NFL's first Sunday Night Football game of the season, NBC unveiled a 45-second reminder. During the airing of the Buffalo-Baltimore NFL matchup, NBC released a new promo — one featuring the lineup of some of its announcers and analysts, done in the same way that NBA teams announce their starters pregame.
Featured in the spot: Grant Hill (who rips away his warm-up suit to reveal a dress suit and tie), Vince Carter (who puts on a headset), Reggie Miller (who autographs a dress shoe, tosses it to a fan in the stands and fakes a choking gesture before fixing his tie), Tracy McGrady, Carmelo Anthony and Jamal Crawford.
What started as a normal golf tournament has turned into an Orlando Magic fan’s golf dream. Golfers will have the chance to share the course with five former Magic players — Vince Carter, Grant Hill, Quentin Richardson, Courtney Lee and Bo Outlaw. As part of the fundraising effort, golfers can purchase a $100 raffle ticket for a chance to have one of the five players, chosen at random, join their foursome for all 18 holes of the event.
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LeBron James: When you talk about inspiration, there was nobody more inspiring to me than Michael Jordan. For me, I think our games would have complemented each other well. MJ was a flat-out scorer. He had a scorers mentality if I had to pick him. But I know I can't pick him because I know how social media works. You're gonna be like, "Oh, you want to play with Michael Jordan, too? You get to play with everybody else. God damn it." I didn't ask the question. I'm only answering it, guys. I didn't ask the question. But MJ was inspiration. Penny Hardaway was inspiration to me. Grant Hill was inspiration to me growing up. Like that point forward Scottie Pippen, that point forward. Guys like Penny, like Grant Hill, like Scottie, those guys kind of inspired me because I kind of wanted to be that point forward. I can see the headline already. LeBron wants to play with Michael Jordan. Like, I see it already. That's weird. Don't be weird. Don't be weird. Don't be weird. I was going to say Kobe Bryant, but I actually played with Kobe in the Olympics, so rest his soul. Great Kobe. Great Kobe.
The current version of the Magic are one of the top up-and-coming teams, led by All-Star forward Paolo Banchero, who recently signed a five-year contract extension worth $239 million. Orlando has been to the playoffs the past two seasons, but have failed to advance past the first round. This upcoming season could be a different story with the Eastern Conference wide open. "They've been in this sort of situation they're in for the last few years, a playoff team first round," Grant Hill told SportsBoom.com in an exclusive interview. "But I think bringing in (Desmond) Bane, what they've done this offseason. They were decimated by injuries throughout the season last year, but you got an incredible young player in Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner as well."
"I think so," says Hill when asked if the Magic can compete with the likes of the Cavaliers and Knicks. "They have some pieces. You have to wait and see how it all comes together, but they got a guy who could go get a bucket in the playoffs, you need a guy who has that ability and Banchero's that. You have better shooting now, better spacing. I think with the shooting, if you can knock down the three, I think Banchero can show his passing and facilitating too, but also it makes it harder to guard him if you can't leave guys." It's worth noting that the Magic led the NBA in defense this past season. When combined with the improved three-point shooting, that should be a recipe for success, according to Hill. "I also think you don't sacrifice your defense with the changes they made," says Hill.
Grant Hill feels the Pistons can take it even a step further entering next season now that the young core has some playoff experience. “J.B. Bickerstaff, the job that he did, Trajan Langdon the general manager, some of the free agents they brought in last summer and then the young players, Cade Cunningham establishing himself as an All Star," says Hill. "It's just a remarkable season. They took a big step last year. I think they have a chance to take another step."