'This is totally different': Sue Bird energized by first camp as Team USA's managing director

Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers and JuJu Watkins are among 10 players attending their first senior 5-on-5 camp

Five days after having her UConn jersey retired, Sue Bird is back at training camp not as a player, but as the managing director of the U.S. women's national basketball team. This USA Basketball camp, held on the Duke University campus from Dec. 12-14, is a chance to set the tone for the players, the coaching staff and for Bird as well. 

"I've definitely had some moments where it's like, 'Oh, I'm not a player anymore. This is totally different. Like, oh, I kind of have to wear all my team-issued stuff now," Bird told the media on Thursday afternoon. "But for the most part, you know, it's been great. Everybody with USA Basketball has been super helpful."

Bird was named the first-ever managing director of the U.S. women's national team in May. Her first task was to hire Duke head coach Kara Lawson to lead the five-on-five Olympic team through the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Her next big task will be to finalize a roster for the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers in March. 

For now, Bird is content to be a "fly on the wall" and observe the young player pool on hand in Durham. Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers and USC guard JuJu Watkins are among 10 players attending their first senior 5-on-5 camp. For players like the injured Watkins or a recovering Clark, Bird is looking for these young Team USA hopefuls to learn, even if only, for now, through inclusion. 

"It's just a great opportunity to get their first feel, to get their first taste," she said. 

Bird said not to read into the absence of marquee stars such as A'ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. With months to go before the next competition, USA Basketball cast a wide net of invitations, knowing some players may have other obligations at this time of the basketball season. 

"In the landscape of women's basketball, which is ever-changing, offseason opportunities are ever-changing. I don't think any player that you might think would have been here, not being here, has larger meaning," she said. 

Nor do the absences spell a lack of desire for athletes to attend camp in years without a competition. Instead, the players attending are part of a larger strategy ahead of the Women's World Cup in Berlin next September, when Team USA will be going going for its fifth straight gold medal.

"We try to get multiple camps in throughout a year, because you do want to have everybody to get a taste of it, so you can have carryover, right? So by the time you do get to a World Cup, people will have been involved at some point, to have that feel for it," Bird said. 

While the newcomers are making the headlines, there are plenty of veterans at camp, too, including Kahleah Copper, Kelsey Plum, Brionna Jones and Jackie Young. 

"This is when the veterans really come alive, right? This is when they can be a huge part of setting that tone, not just the coaches, but those vets. I mean, they've been there. They know what it's like, and with the way that they act, maybe with the way that they can be vocal, they're going to teach the younger players," Bird said.

Assisting Lawson at the camp will be will be court coaches Natalie Nakase (Golden State Valkyries), Nate Tibbetts (Phoenix Mercury) and Stephanie White (Indiana Fever)