Grant Hill: 'These guys want to be remembered as the greatest US Men's National Team'

Basketball Hall of Famer and Team USA men’s hoops managing director Grant Hill, who Brown criticized after being snubbed, spoke about the matter on All The Smoke’s Open Run with Rachel Nichols. “I’m confident he and I will sit down at some point and talk about it and get to some level of understanding,” Hill said. “Look, he’ll be a candidate if he wants in ’28…” Nichols then asked if he would welcome him on the team when the Summer Games move to L.A. “Oh yeah,” Hill said. “One thing I’ve learned. You can’t take anything personal in this role. And so, I haven’t personalized anything. My goal, my objective is to win. As soon as hopefully that happens, we pivot and start looking ahead to the future.” -via Bleacher Report / August 8, 2024

“Why aren’t you on the USA team this year? PAUL GEORGE: Yeah, they came to me, right? Steve Kerr, after we played the Warriors in LA, came to me like, ‘You got any interest in being on Team USA?’ Yeah, I want to play, so I’m thinking I’m in. I think I’m a part of that group. I’m seeing it on the ground; they get the jersey, they get the jersey. I’m like, ‘Where’s my post? When are they going to hit me?’ It just so happened I ran into Grant Hill, I think during the playoffs in Dallas. ‘Yeah man, didn’t happen this year.’ So I understood it. Obviously, I ain’t going to be sour about it, but at the same time, it was like, damn, I was looking forward to representing the USA and being a part of that team.” -via YouTube / July 31, 2024

Flagg, the consensus top recruit in the class of 2024, recently scrimmaged with the USA Basketball select team against the senior roster ahead of the Olympics. He was the first collegian to participate with the select team since Doug McDermott and Marcus Smart in 2013. He went viral after some highlights surfaced on social media and earned high praise from Kevin Durant. The showing by Flagg also impressed Hill, the managing director of USA Basketball. “I think he is great,” Hill said on the “Dan Patrick Show” on Friday. “He’ll be a great college player. I think his game may even resonate and translate better on the NBA stage. He is young. He is 17, so he is still learning. Sometimes when you’re young, you have no fear. You don’t even know you’re supposed to be scared. But he has all of the tools. He has got the mental make up, too. He has some nasty in him. He isn’t afraid.” -via The Rookie Wire / July 30, 2024