Grant Hill was not looking for new things to do.

He’s on the board of trustees at Duke, his alma mater where he played for Mike Krzyzewski. He’s an investor, broadcaster, public speaker, member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, co-owner and vice chairman of the Atlanta Hawks, and a member of the board of directors at the NCAA.

He says no to plenty of things. And then USA Basketball came calling.

That call led to Hill adding one more job to his portfolio. When the Tokyo Olympics end, he will replace Jerry Colangelo and become managing director of USA Basketball’s men’s national team – a most challenging task that he’ll begin with the Americans just a few months away from resuming qualifying for the 2023 Basketball World Cup and with an eye already on the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“Another opportunity to represent your country, to serve your country in this capacity, that was the reason for me,” Hill said. “I think also understanding how important, how significant the Olympic experience was for me back in 1996 and wanting to help recreate for young men who are coming through the NBA and want to be a part of this. It’s almost a calling in a lot of ways.”

Hill will not be in Tokyo for the Olympics, the first one where the U.S. will play under Gregg Popovich after Krzyzewski’s three-Olympics, three-gold-medals run ended.

Advertisement

Hill’s absence is only because of logistical challenges; the rules don’t allow for unlimited personnel with a team, even in nonpandemic times, so Hill’s in-person involvement with the team picked for the Tokyo Games was limited to its training camp in Las Vegas.

• USA Basketball expects to have its full 12-man roster available for Sunday’s matchup against France, the first game for both teams.

Zach LaVine has been cleared to exit the health and safety protocols that stemmed from a coronavirus testing-related issue, will fly to Japan and rejoin the team on Thursday. And the plan is that the three players from the NBA finals – Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday from the newly crowned champion Milwaukee Bucks and Devin Booker from the Phoenix Suns – will be in place on Saturday.

FLAG BEARERS: Four-time Olympic women’s basketball gold medalist Sue Bird and baseball player Eddy Alvarez were chosen as U.S. flag bearers for the opening ceremony on Friday night.

Alvarez, who won a silver medal in speedskating at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, and Bird were chosen by a vote of fellow U.S. athletes. They are the first duo to share the honor of leading the delegation into the ceremony.

2032 GAMES: Brisbane was picked to host the 2032 Olympics, the inevitable winner of a one-city race steered by the IOC to avoid rival bids.

Advertisement

The Games will go back to Australia 32 years after the popular 2000 Sydney Olympics. Melbourne hosted in 1956.

Brisbane follows 2028 host Los Angeles in getting 11 years to prepare for hosting the Games. Paris will host in 2024.

COVID-19: Top-ranked shooter Amber Hill of Britain will miss the Olympics after testing positive for COVID-19, she announced.

The No. 1 in women’s skeet said she tested positive Tuesday night shortly before her scheduled departure for Tokyo, and that she was in self-isolation with no symptoms.

British tennis players Johanna Konta and Dan Evans previously withdrew after testing positive.

SWIMMING: The captain of Spain’s synchronized swimming team has complained about the “drastic measures” by Tokyo Olympic organizers that have made it impossible for her to take her baby to the Tokyo Games.

Advertisement

Ona Carbonell used her Instagram account to say she had to leave behind her 11-month-old son “despite the appearance of some news suggesting the possibility that we athletes could travel to the Tokyo Olympic Games accompanied by our infants or young children.”

“We have been informed by the organizing entities of some extremely drastic measures that make this option impossible for me,” she said. “After receiving countless expressions of support and encouragement to go to Tokyo with Kai, I wanted to express my disappointment and disillusionment that I will finally have to travel without him.”

She said “our only possibility is to wait for the end of this pandemic so that normality returns” and “that the reconciliation of motherhood and elite sport is no longer something extraordinary and practically impossible to carry out.”

Family members were not allowed to accompany athletes to Tokyo due to COVID-19 restrictions but the International Olympic Committee had announced last month that nursing mothers would be allowed to bring their babies to Japan. The move had come after complaints made by Canadian basketball player Kim Gaucher and American soccer player Alex Morgan.

Carbonell told Spanish media that nursing mothers would have to leave the Olympic Village bubble to breastfeed their children, increasing their risk of infection and putting their teammates at a greater risk as well. The babies and caregivers have to stay at hotels.

SWIMMING: The southern African nation of Zimbabwe is sending a Black swimmer to the Olympics, the first from her country to go the Games.

Advertisement

Seventeen-year-old Donata Katai won African youth titles and broke youth records once held by two-time Olympic champion Kirsty Coventry, who is not only Zimbabwe’s most successful swimmer but also Africa’s most decorated Olympian.

WRESTLING: The chiropractor for the American women’s wrestling team has apologized after comparing Olympic COVID-19 protocols to Nazi Germany in a social media post.

Rosie Gallegos-Main, a chiropractor for women’s wrestling since 2009, said in a letter to the USA Wrestling Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee  she was sorry “for my poor judgment and my choice to share this message.”

The post, sent to her Instagram and Facebook accounts last week, was flagged by both social media platforms for spreading misinformation.

“We went from `Flattening the curve in 14 days’ to `Going door-to-door to see your papers’ … Gotta admit, I did N-A-Z-I that one coming,” the post said.

Gallegos-Main deleted her post hours after The Associated Press brought it to the attention of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee on Tuesday.

She will be allowed to finish her planned stay at USA Wrestling’s pre-Olympic camp in Nakatsugawa, Japan. This is her third Olympics with women’s wrestling, although she is not a part of the accredited U.S. delegation in Tokyo. She will also be required to undergo diversity, equity and inclusion training.

SOFTBALL: Cat Osterman dominated as the United States began its quest to regain thel gold medal, 13 years after she lost the championship game, pitching one-hit ball over six innings and striking out nine to beat Italy, 2-0.

Michelle Moultrie singled in a run in the fourth inning for the top-ranked U.S., which lost the title to Japan 3-1 at the 2008 Beijing Games. Janie Reed, the wife of Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Jake Reed, added a sacrifice fly.

Comments are not available on this story.