Ex-players, coaches discuss future of USA Basketball

CHICAGO -- A procession of legendary players and coaches gathered Monday to help USA Basketball restore an image tarnished by disappointing showings in the most recent Olympics and world championships.

The meeting didn't produce any major decisions. A coach was not selected, nor was the roster set. This was, simply, an opportunity to provide opinions and information.

USA Basketball senior men's national team managing director Jerry Colangelo said he hopes to have a coach and 25-player roster pool for the 2006 World Championships and Beijing Olympics in place by the end of the year. He also said he wants to restore a sense of patriotism among today's superstars.

Meanwhile, Michael Jordan said more role players need to be included on the roster.

Jordan was part of an impressive list of players, coaches and executives attending Monday's session at the Jerry Colangelo Center. That list included Larry Bird, Chris Mullin, Clyde Drexler, Dean Smith, John Thompson, Jerry West and Ernie Grunfeld.

Mullin, an Olympian in 1984 and 1992, called playing in the Games a potential "life-changing experience."

"So many things go on during that summer," Mullin said. "If you keep your eyes and ears open, a lot can happen."

For Mullin, it was forging relationships with new teammates and coaches, and learning from them.

Jordan recalled staying in the Olympic Village in Los Angeles in 1984 and meeting other athletes such as boxer Evander Holyfield and the U.S. baseball team, and realizing how much he had in common with them.

"I learned about the similarities in approach," he said.

More importantly, "It was the first time I represented my country," Jordan said.

He took pride in that.

But it's a different era now. One of the knocks on the current American superstars is they lack that patriotism, and the result was a bronze medal at the Athens Olympics last year and a sixth-place showing at the world championships two years earlier in 2002.