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Speaker 1: Welcome to this league uncut in the world of twenty

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Speaker 1: four hour NBA news. This is you, Chris Hans. It's

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Speaker 1: go time, Mark Stein, It's so time. This league uncut

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Speaker 1: is underway and on fire.

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Speaker 2: This should be a good one.

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Speaker 3: Hey everyone, it is great to be with you here.

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Speaker 4: My name is Mark Stein, and I've been fortunate enough

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Speaker 4: to cover the NBA for more than thirty years now.

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Speaker 4: But tonight is about international basketball USA basketball, which is

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Speaker 4: something that means a great deal to be one of

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Speaker 4: my favorite things, honestly about covering this crazy league and

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Speaker 4: covering Olympics, covering World Cups, some of the best experiences

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Speaker 4: I've had in my life, including Indianapolis here in two

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Speaker 4: thousand and two. I still remember that World Cup and

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Speaker 4: what a special event that was. In my home office

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Speaker 4: to this day, I still have a souvenir basketball that

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Speaker 4: I bought here twenty two years ago.

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Speaker 3: I see it every day.

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Speaker 4: And we're gonna have a whole panel here full of

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Speaker 4: USAB luminaries. We are gonna start. Let me introduce to

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Speaker 4: a true all star, five time All Star in the WNBA.

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Speaker 3: Even better than that, a.

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Speaker 4: Three time champion, back to back champion, and when she's

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Speaker 4: wearing the red, white and blue. She's won the Tokyo Olympics,

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Speaker 4: which were contested in twenty twenty one, won a World

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Speaker 4: Cup gold medal as.

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Speaker 3: Well from the Las Vegas Aces.

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Speaker 4: Please welcome Chelsea Gray also joining us on the panel.

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Speaker 4: This man is a pillar of USA basketball.

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Speaker 3: He was CEO.

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Speaker 4: He started right before those World Championships that we're here

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Speaker 4: in two thousand and two as the CEO, and even

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Speaker 4: before that worked in the CBA before becoming such an

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Speaker 4: integral part of USA basketball and makes it all go

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Speaker 4: behind the scenes.

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Speaker 3: Jim Tooley.

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Speaker 4: We also have a general who worked for more than

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Speaker 4: forty years in the US Army, former Chief of Staff,

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Speaker 4: former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and on

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Speaker 4: top of all of that, again more than forty years

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Speaker 4: in the military, but closely associated with USA basketball and

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Speaker 4: works as a special advisor to NBA Commissioner David Stern.

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Speaker 4: Let's say hello to General Martin Dempsey. And last, but

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Speaker 4: not least, I don't remember where he played college ball.

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Speaker 3: I'm not going to bring that up, but he was.

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Speaker 4: There's a lot of duke representation on the like I

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Speaker 4: this is a lot.

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Speaker 3: This is a lot, but.

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Speaker 4: He was drafted into the NBA here in Indianapolis almost

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Speaker 4: thirty years ago, and we both looked at each other

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Speaker 4: today and asked, what happened?

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Speaker 5: How did we get so old?

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Speaker 4: Because that was just a few months after I started

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Speaker 4: covering the NBA, And now we're both in our fifties

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Speaker 4: and don't know exactly what happened. But after that draft

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Speaker 4: here in Indianapolis, seven time NBA All Star, a Hall

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Speaker 4: of Famer.

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Speaker 3: He also, I don't know how he's pulled this off.

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Speaker 3: He is part of the ownership group of the Atlanta Hawks.

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Speaker 4: I just heard he's part of the ownership group of

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Speaker 4: the Baltimore Orioles.

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Speaker 3: You see him on TV.

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Speaker 4: And on top of all that, he's the guy who's

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Speaker 4: going to decide if Tyrese Halliburton is going to the Olympics.

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Speaker 4: He's the managing director of the men's senior national team

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Speaker 4: for USA Basketball.

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Speaker 2: Grant Hill, I did go to Duke just for clarification.

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Speaker 3: Thank you.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: I tried to put that in there and he didn't

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Speaker 3: say it.

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Speaker 4: But like you said, the Duke legends right here. All right,

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Speaker 4: Let's just get right to it, Jim. This is a

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Speaker 4: historic year for USA basketball. The fiftieth anniversary. And I

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Speaker 4: know it wasn't even known as USA Basketball at the start,

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Speaker 4: but Paris Olympics are looming. You guys have both the

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Speaker 4: men's and women senior teams going for gold, and both

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Speaker 4: the three on three teams men's and women's going for gold.

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Speaker 4: So four gold medals potentially in play for USA Basketball

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Speaker 4: this summer. Just look ahead for us and tell us

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Speaker 4: what you foresee in Paris for the Red, White.

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Speaker 5: And Blue. Well, we foresee a lot of good things

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Speaker 5: for sure.

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Speaker 6: As you noted, this is the first time ever that

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Speaker 6: any federation will have a chance to win four gold

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Speaker 6: medals in a team sport. We have five x five

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Speaker 6: men and women, and we have three extreme men and women.

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Speaker 6: So it's a very exciting time for us, culminating with

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Speaker 6: our fiftieth anniversary, which we're celebrating that in a variety

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Speaker 6: of ways.

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Speaker 5: Today is one of them.

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Speaker 6: We have a nice exhibit here in the NBA Crossover,

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Speaker 6: and we'll also be having announcing you know, fifty golden

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Speaker 6: moments that we've been sharing throughout the years. You know,

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Speaker 6: a lot of people know us for the Dream Team

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Speaker 6: when that became into existence, but we have so many

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Speaker 6: more impressive things going on. Our women's national team is

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Speaker 6: going for the eighth Olympic gold medal in a row.

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Speaker 5: They haven't I don't want to jinx this year, but haven't.

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Speaker 6: Lost a game in the Olympics since nineteen ninety two.

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Speaker 5: So no pressure, Miss Chelsea.

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Speaker 6: But we're really excited and really happy to be celebrating

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Speaker 6: in this all culminating in our fiftieth.

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Speaker 4: So that was a perfect setup and we did not

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Speaker 4: plan this now because I actually want to go right

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Speaker 4: to Chelsea. You recited the stats better than I could

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Speaker 4: as an athlete. What is that like to step into

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Speaker 4: that arena? Knowing the Aces have won back to back championships,

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Speaker 4: but you guys do occasionally lose a game, and it's

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Speaker 4: not occasions, not a crisis, but like when you wear

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Speaker 4: your national team jersey, it's an international incident. When you

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Speaker 4: guys lose, you're not expected to lose. What is that

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Speaker 4: like to play in that scenario?

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Speaker 7: We don't even bring that word up, you saying that

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Speaker 7: it's making me a little nervous up here. Oh man,

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Speaker 7: I feel so blessed to be a part of something

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Speaker 7: so much bigger than myself. Being around greats, learning from grades,

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Speaker 7: able to travel the world and experience it in an

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Speaker 7: international playing field and just wearing that across my chest.

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Speaker 7: My pasts playing basketball was a little bit different. I

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Speaker 7: got hurt coming out of college and then just like

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Speaker 7: ups and downs, up and down. So being able to

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Speaker 7: compete at the Olympics like it was that childhood.

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Speaker 3: Dream of mine was.

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Speaker 7: It was amazing when I got that cost Still remember

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Speaker 7: I cried and I was just like, Okay, I gotta

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Speaker 7: get it together. But it's going to be exciting in

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Speaker 7: Paris if I'm lucky to be a part of that.

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Speaker 7: Like the legacy that I'm around and the legendardairy players

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Speaker 7: that I play with and against. Every time I put

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Speaker 7: on that uniform, I deal with so much pride and

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Speaker 7: so much I'm so grateful that I'm able to do

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Speaker 7: that and have the opportunity to.

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Speaker 4: In the men's game, we always talk about how different

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Speaker 4: the NBA game is compared to the FEBA game. When

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Speaker 4: you compare the w NBA game to the FOBA game,

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Speaker 4: how would you describe it?

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Speaker 3: Man, they don't really call fouls out there.

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Speaker 7: I feel like I might be getting tackled and then

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Speaker 7: they're just like, it looks like a clean play to me.

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Speaker 7: You know, the rule differences are a little bit different.

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Speaker 7: Obviously we don't do like goaltending as much on the

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Speaker 7: women's side, but the men's side they have that defensive

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Speaker 7: three seconds, So there's like rules that.

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Speaker 3: You kind of have to get used to.

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Speaker 7: Players can't call timeouts, the coaches have to call timeouts.

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Speaker 7: So there's little like nuances like that. But I've been

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Speaker 7: lucky enough to in the women's game, a lot of

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Speaker 7: our players have experienced overseas play, and so they're kind

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Speaker 7: of used to the type of basketball, the terminology, the

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Speaker 7: way the refs kind of ref the game, and so

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Speaker 7: I think that also helps in our favor while we

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Speaker 7: have so much success, is our ability to play overseas

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Speaker 7: and to get used to the terminology and used to

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Speaker 7: everything and seeing that so we're not seeing in the

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Speaker 7: first time when we're competing internationally with USA across our chest.

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Speaker 3: So that plays to our advantage a little bit as well.

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Speaker 4: But World Cup, Olympics, how much do you feel that

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Speaker 4: you guys are getting everybody's best shot. Everybody wants to

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Speaker 4: beat the United States.

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Speaker 7: Man, we will make an astonishing play and it will

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Speaker 7: be crickets out there and then what was it?

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Speaker 3: World Cup? We played against China.

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Speaker 7: The arena was packed and they made a layup and

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Speaker 7: it didn't count, and the arena went crazy, and I

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Speaker 7: was just like, did you guys see the three plays

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Speaker 7: we just made? So's we're going to get everybody's best shot.

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Speaker 7: We love that, We feel that, and it comes with

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Speaker 7: the territory, right, If you're like having so much success,

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Speaker 7: you're always going to be the one that's being chased.

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Speaker 3: And so I'd rather be that. We'ar a gold medal

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Speaker 3: around my neck.

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Speaker 4: All right, I'm going to shift now to mister Hill,

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Speaker 4: who has to put together the team that's going to

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Speaker 4: the men's team that's going to go to Paris this summer.

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Speaker 4: When you stepped into the job, I think you knew

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Speaker 4: how hard it was going to be. But obviously last

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Speaker 4: summer at the World Cup, things did not turn out

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Speaker 4: the way USA Basketball was hoping. But it sure looks

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Speaker 4: like you're going to have a much stronger roster whichever

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Speaker 4: twelve you choose for Paris.

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Speaker 3: Just walk me.

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Speaker 4: Through what your first year has been like running the

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Speaker 4: men's program and making these decisions.

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Speaker 8: Yeah, it's been an incredible journey thus far, and you

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Speaker 8: know to work with, you know, people who I admire,

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Speaker 8: respect and enjoy working with. It's been just an absolute joy.

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Speaker 8: It's also been challenging. As you mentioned, we did not

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Speaker 8: farewell or as well as we would have liked in

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Speaker 8: the World Cup, but it was still a unique experience,

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Speaker 8: a wonderful experience. Name dropping now, but I've called games

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Speaker 8: with Ben Carrol this year, Anthony Edwards. I did an

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Speaker 8: event the other day with Tyrese Halliburton here in Indianapolis,

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Speaker 8: and all three of those guys just talked about how

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Speaker 8: important and how much they enjoyed and how much they now.

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Speaker 8: Granted they might be, you know, politicking to be a

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Speaker 8: part of it in the near future, but you could

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Speaker 8: feel just how important and how significant that experience was.

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Speaker 8: And so but moving forward, Yeah, we learned a lot

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Speaker 8: from that experience, and thankfully there's been an outpouring of

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Speaker 8: interest from just some of the best players in our game,

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Speaker 8: Guys who've been a part of our program in years past,

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Speaker 8: Guys who've helped build the foundation of success. I think

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Speaker 8: it's not because of me, it's because of these two

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Speaker 8: individuals up here and those who preceded them, and players

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Speaker 8: who've been a part of the program. It's exciting that

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Speaker 8: even now guys want to continue to be a part

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Speaker 8: of it, continue to move on and you know, just

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Speaker 8: fifty years and start the next fifty years on the

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Speaker 8: right note, set in the right tone. So we have

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Speaker 8: some tough decisions to make. We can't bring everyone, unfortunately,

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Speaker 8: but it's a good situation to be in, and we

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Speaker 8: have a chance to not only have success, but really

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Speaker 8: put together a team that can make history. And so,

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Speaker 8: you know, I may have the responsibility, but I really

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Speaker 8: do look at it as a collaborative effort and all

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Speaker 8: of us working together to figure out who's going to

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Speaker 8: give us the best opportunity for success. And when you

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Speaker 8: look at those forty one names that were released a

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Speaker 8: few weeks ago, I think we'll have a good chance

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Speaker 8: of having that success.

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Speaker 4: I'm sure you spoke to Coach K before you decided, yes,

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Speaker 4: I'm going to take this job and replace Jerry Colangelo.

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Speaker 4: And those are obviously big shoes to fill with all

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Speaker 4: the success the program had when Jerry was the managing director.

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Speaker 4: What did Coach K say to you when you told

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Speaker 4: him I'm actually going to do this.

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Speaker 8: He said, don't mess up. He didn't say it in

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Speaker 8: that way. No, No, he was very proud. And you know,

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Speaker 8: one thing I'll say, going back to really before I

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Speaker 8: arrived at Duke, he even stressed then the importance of

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Speaker 8: FEBA competition and how you can benefit, you can grow

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Speaker 8: the pride of representing your country. He instilled that in

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Speaker 8: us before he had his incredible run as the men's

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Speaker 8: national team coach, and I played the summer before my

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Speaker 8: freshman year in college, we had a Tournament of the

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Speaker 8: Americas down in Montevideo, Uruguay, and that was a huge

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Speaker 8: moment and confidence booster for me at the age of

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Speaker 8: eighteen prior to actually I was seventeen before arriving on campus,

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Speaker 8: and so it's always been something he's proud of. Obviously

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Speaker 8: his experience and background in the military with West Point

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Speaker 8: and coaching at Army, coaching at West Point, and so yeah,

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Speaker 8: I mean I think there was a sense of pride.

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Speaker 8: He was happy for me. He's been an incredible resource.

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Speaker 8: You know, once someone's your coach, they're always your coach.

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Speaker 8: So he will time to time he'll offer suggestions or

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Speaker 8: advice or thoughts and any and all are welcome. But

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Speaker 8: to be part of that family with him not just

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Speaker 8: the Duke family with the USA basketball family is something

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Speaker 8: that's incredibly meaningful and incredibly powerful for me.

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Speaker 4: So the pressure that we were talking about when I

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Speaker 4: asked Chelsea, you've experienced that as a player when you're

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Speaker 4: on the court playing for the United States and you're

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Speaker 4: not supposed to lose and it's a crisis moment when

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Speaker 4: the US loses. But now, as essentially the GM of

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Speaker 4: the team, what is that like to select the team?

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Speaker 4: But you're sitting on the sidelines watching once once the

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Speaker 4: ball goes up, you really can't do anything. So what's

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Speaker 4: your what's your coping mechanism for the for the pressure

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Speaker 4: because you know US US pesky press guys are going

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Speaker 4: to give you a hard time if you don't win.

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Speaker 8: Yes, some of some of you give me a hard

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Speaker 8: time regardless, Yeah you didn't win by enough.

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Speaker 2: No, I'm playing Mark.

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Speaker 8: You know it is an interesting I mean, at least

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Speaker 8: when you play, you have a chance to have a

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Speaker 8: real sort of impact in the moment on the final result.

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Speaker 8: And you know, sitting in the stands with with Chairman Demsey,

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Speaker 8: Marty uh and Jim, you know it is nerve racking,

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Speaker 8: but you know it is it's a challenge, and and

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Speaker 8: it's an incredible challenge. It's a great learning experience. It's

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Speaker 8: a different sort of way of leading.

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Speaker 3: You know.

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Speaker 8: One of the ways as a player that you I led,

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Speaker 8: and certainly Chelsea probably did the same, was leading amongst

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Speaker 8: the group and galvanizing, being a connector bringing people together.

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Speaker 8: That was something that was was that I enjoyed and

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Speaker 8: I felt like I thrived in as a player, and

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Speaker 8: sometimes leading from Afar is a little bit different, but

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Speaker 8: I've enjoyed it. It's going to be a pressure cooker.

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Speaker 8: There's going to be high expectations, but we want high expectations.

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Speaker 8: That's USA basketball. There's a standard, a standard of excellence,

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Speaker 8: a standard of success. All of those guys who've committed

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Speaker 8: to being a part of this, they want that. They

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Speaker 8: want that experience. When I played thirty years ago, close

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Speaker 8: to thirty years ago, in ninety six, we pretty much

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Speaker 8: knew then we were going to win, you know, and

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Speaker 8: we came out, we played, we took care of business.

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Speaker 2: But the game has grown. It's global.

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Speaker 8: Thirty percent of the players in the NBA or international players.

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Speaker 8: The dream team mystique is long gone, and that's what

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Speaker 8: you want. You want great competition. Great competitors want great competition.

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Speaker 8: Chelsea Gray wants great competition. You know, Lebron James wants

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Speaker 8: great competition, and so our guys will embrace that. I

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Speaker 8: think they'll thrive in that. And you know, I'll try

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Speaker 8: my best to. I have my peanut m and m's

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Speaker 8: and popcorn that I try to, you know, help me

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Speaker 8: get through the challenges of a game.

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Speaker 4: And remember, anyone in this room who wants to see

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Speaker 4: Tyrese Haliburt in the Olympics, all your recommendation letters go

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Speaker 4: go to this man over here.

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Speaker 3: On the end, Martin, I wanted to ask you.

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Speaker 4: I was fortunate enough to cover Coach K's teams in

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Speaker 4: twenty twelve at the London Olympics, twenty sixteen at the

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Speaker 4: Rio Olympics, and twenty fourteen in Spain at the World Championships,

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Speaker 4: and your name. I think that was before you actually

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Speaker 4: had a formal role with USA USAB, but your name

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Speaker 4: would often come up.

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Speaker 3: I feel like Coach K.

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Speaker 4: Always was bringing you up and he wanted his guys

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Speaker 4: to talk to you. When you're speaking to NBA players

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Speaker 4: or WNA players, what is kind of your message to

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Speaker 4: them with the military background that you have a lifetime

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Speaker 4: as a military man.

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Speaker 9: Before you put that uniform on, you know, we usually

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Speaker 9: lay it out on their beds while they're out practicing.

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Speaker 9: They come back and Coach k would always tell them,

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Speaker 9: take a look at that uniform before you put it on,

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Speaker 9: and think about what it means, and think about what

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Speaker 9: it means to represent your country in international play.

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Speaker 10: And that's the recurring theme.

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Speaker 9: And the second thing is when we go to these competitions,

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Speaker 9: we want to win. I mean, we're all united in

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Speaker 9: that common goal. But we say to each other, you know,

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Speaker 9: as the United States, you know, the leader of basketball

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Speaker 9: in the world, and we don't intend to relinquish that title.

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Speaker 9: It's not just that we win, it's how we win.

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Speaker 9: We want we want to be representatives of the sport.

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Speaker 9: We want to honor the sport by our commitment and

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Speaker 9: by our performance. And you know, I'll tell you, you know,

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Speaker 9: to pick up on Chelsea's story, when we played China

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Speaker 9: in the final in Australia, the Chinese players, they had

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Speaker 9: a point guard who was actually quite good and was

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Speaker 9: causing us, you know, difficulties in covering her through the game.

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Speaker 9: About two minutes before the end of the game, she

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Speaker 9: blew her knee out. The game was in hand. We

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Speaker 9: knew at that point we were going to win. They

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Speaker 9: cart this young lady off. They didn't have any real

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Speaker 9: place to put her, so they kind of sat her

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Speaker 9: up next to the bleachers, and when the buzzer sounded,

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Speaker 9: our players came together briefly to congratulate each other, and

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Speaker 9: then as a group, walked over and asked that young

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Speaker 9: lady from China how she was doing and consoled her

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Speaker 9: for the injury.

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Speaker 10: And you know, you can't imagine.

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Speaker 9: You know, that's about the best act of diplomacy I

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Speaker 9: can think of. So it's really about winning, but making

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Speaker 9: sure we never forget who we are.

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Speaker 4: If we rewinded twenty twenty five years ago, had I

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Speaker 4: met you then and said, hey, at this point in

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Speaker 4: your life you're going to be so heavily involved in

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Speaker 4: basketball with both US and the NBA, what would you

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Speaker 4: have said back then?

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Speaker 9: I probably would have said, I want what he's drinking. No,

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Speaker 9: I didn't say any of this coming, I will tell you,

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Speaker 9: And I was honored when I got you know, when

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Speaker 9: Coach k kind of championed me, and then of course

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Speaker 9: Adam Silver championed me. And you know, he He was

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Speaker 9: the one that asked me to take part in the board,

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Speaker 9: and then the board voted me and as chairman. I

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Speaker 9: tell people, for forty one years, if I walked through

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Speaker 9: an airport and somebody said, hey, what do you do,

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Speaker 9: I was really proud to say that I'm a member

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Speaker 9: of the United States Army.

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Speaker 10: I was just proud of it.

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Speaker 9: And so when I retired, I wanted to be proud

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Speaker 9: of what I did as a second career. And I

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Speaker 9: can tell you I'm very proud to be part of

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Speaker 9: USA basketball.

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Speaker 1: Jim.

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Speaker 4: I feel like I follow your program pretty closely, but

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Speaker 4: it just seems like you guys are involved in so

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Speaker 4: much right now, and I have to confess I'm not

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Speaker 4: super up to speed on the three on three realm,

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Speaker 4: which is just taken off. So maybe you could just

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Speaker 4: address that a little bit. This summer, the women are

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Speaker 4: back in the Olympics and the men. It's for the

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Speaker 4: first time, correct in the Olympics in the three at

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Speaker 4: three on three, that's correct.

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Speaker 6: The first time Thrix who was in the Olympics was

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Speaker 6: twenty twenty, which was played in twenty one. Our women

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Speaker 6: won the gold medal, but the men did not qualify.

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Speaker 6: This year, both men and women did qualify, so that's

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Speaker 6: why we have a chance to win the.

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Speaker 5: Four gold medals. We're very excited about that.

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Speaker 6: The players that we'll use for the women will be

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Speaker 6: a combination of college women and WNBA players because their

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Speaker 6: system is allowed, they have the chance to get qualified

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Speaker 6: under Foeba's points system. Our players on the men's side

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Speaker 6: will be non NBA players, but high level players. A

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Speaker 6: guy who's been playing for US a lot, you may

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Speaker 6: remember as Jim Orferdett played at BYU and had a

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Speaker 6: terrific college career and he's given up the last two

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Speaker 6: of years of his life to train with us, so

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Speaker 6: he's he's a hopeful. And then we'll have other guys

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Speaker 6: who playing in our system for a long time, post

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Speaker 6: collegiate players more so than college. But we're excited about it.

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Speaker 6: And it's a fun game. It's a ten minute game,

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Speaker 6: or the first one that twenty one. Anything can happen.

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Speaker 6: It's a twelve second shot clock, it's a sprint, you know,

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Speaker 6: it's kind of like beach volleyball in the Olympic Games.

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Speaker 5: This is our chance to do that.

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Speaker 4: So you, like Grant said, for his team, he has

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Speaker 4: forty one players that he gets to pick from to

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Speaker 4: narrow down to twelve. How challenging is it to identify

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Speaker 4: the right players for three x three?

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Speaker 6: It's tough because you have to play almost year round

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Speaker 6: oring enough points to be eligible.

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Speaker 5: It's different for our five x five teams.

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Speaker 6: We could poll players off any w team or any

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Speaker 6: NBA team, but in three x three you have to

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Speaker 6: be playing on almost a year round basis to do that.

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Speaker 6: So we'll identify some players that all of a sudden

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Speaker 6: they have an NBA opportunity which will take them.

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Speaker 5: Out of the mix. So there's a lot of give

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Speaker 5: and take, but it's really exciting.

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Speaker 6: I encourage everybody to tune in and watch it and

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Speaker 6: get a feel for it. And we're excited that we

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Speaker 6: have a chance to, like except bring home four goals.

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Speaker 10: Hey could I add before you go on? Because we're talking.

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Speaker 9: We're talking about the men's national team and the women's

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Speaker 9: national team. Five on five, three on three, there's a

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Speaker 9: whole that's the tip of the iceberg. For USA basketball.

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Speaker 9: We started U sixteens, U sixteens, seventeens, eighteens, nineteens, and

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Speaker 9: then twenty. Every once in a while they'll run a

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Speaker 9: tournament at twenty three. We win all those too, by

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Speaker 9: the way, Yes, yes, and that, and then we grow

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Speaker 9: them into you know, the future Chelsea Grays or the

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Speaker 9: you know the future Grand Hills. That's great, and we

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Speaker 9: have a we do a lot with youth, with youth development.

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Speaker 9: So this is not just about the Olympics Chelsea.

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Speaker 4: From the player perspective, you hear this a lot that Paris.

433
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Speaker 4: Because it's in Paris that makes players want to go

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Speaker 4: even more. How true would you say that statement is

435
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Speaker 4: among you and your peers.

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Speaker 3: I don't care. Where is that. As long as I'm

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Speaker 3: at the Olympics. I'm cool.

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Speaker 7: I mean, and I've seen pictures of like the opening ceremony.

439
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Speaker 7: We were talking about that and just leading up to it.

440
00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:07,640
Speaker 7: I don't know. Maybe it's a city of love, that's

441
00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:09,879
Speaker 7: what they say. I don't know what it is, but

442
00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:12,600
Speaker 7: I'm just if I have the opportunity, I'm just excited

443
00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:12,840
Speaker 7: for that.

444
00:23:13,119 --> 00:23:15,960
Speaker 4: So Tokyo, as hard as that was, with all the

445
00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:17,800
Speaker 4: pandemic restrictions, that didn't bug you.

446
00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:18,959
Speaker 5: You were just like I'm here.

447
00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:21,240
Speaker 7: I mean, I would have loved like my family to

448
00:23:21,359 --> 00:23:24,960
Speaker 7: experience that and friends, and I'm sure a lot my

449
00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:27,639
Speaker 7: teammates would have as well. So it's kind of like

450
00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:30,840
Speaker 7: a new experience for me because I experienced Tokyo and

451
00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:33,199
Speaker 7: it was different than any other Olympics, no fans, the

452
00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:36,920
Speaker 7: opening ceremony was a little bit different. So I'm lucky

453
00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:39,919
Speaker 7: enough to be in Paris, you know, being able to

454
00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:42,960
Speaker 7: experience that and share that with my family since they've

455
00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:44,000
Speaker 7: been on this journey with me.

456
00:23:44,119 --> 00:23:45,720
Speaker 3: My entire career will be special.

457
00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:54,320
Speaker 2: Grant.

458
00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:57,080
Speaker 4: Joel Embiid announced at the start of the season that

459
00:23:57,440 --> 00:23:59,520
Speaker 4: he does want to play for the United States. That

460
00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:04,040
Speaker 4: was a massive story in the international basketball space because

461
00:24:04,119 --> 00:24:07,320
Speaker 4: he was eligible to play for his native Cameroon, where

462
00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:09,840
Speaker 4: he was born, he was eligible to play for France

463
00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:12,880
Speaker 4: and the United States. He holds all three passports.

464
00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:15,360
Speaker 2: What was it like for you to get the word.

465
00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:19,080
Speaker 4: From him, yes, I am available for USA duty if

466
00:24:19,119 --> 00:24:19,640
Speaker 4: called upon.

467
00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:24,400
Speaker 8: Joel Embiid called me on the morning of my birthday

468
00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:30,800
Speaker 8: and said, happy birthday. I'm playing for you, for you,

469
00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:33,440
Speaker 8: for you know, for team USA and for the men's

470
00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:36,960
Speaker 8: national team. And so that was the best birthday President

471
00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:39,360
Speaker 8: that I've had in a while, I guess. And obviously

472
00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:43,240
Speaker 8: Joel's on the sideline right now and we all anticipate

473
00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:45,400
Speaker 8: that he'll be back this season to help his team,

474
00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:48,880
Speaker 8: the Sixers, but it just you know, look, first of all,

475
00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:51,040
Speaker 8: it's great to have options, and he had options, as

476
00:24:51,040 --> 00:24:53,320
Speaker 8: you said, but he wanted to be a part of

477
00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:58,560
Speaker 8: something special. He wanted to be a part of this legacy.

478
00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:01,000
Speaker 8: And I don't want to get too much into what

479
00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:03,840
Speaker 8: we shared or what he discussed, but you know, certainly

480
00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:07,239
Speaker 8: his commitment is something we value, and we value. We

481
00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:10,879
Speaker 8: value everyone's commitment. I will say that with everyone that

482
00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:13,160
Speaker 8: I reached out to, and most of the forty one

483
00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:16,080
Speaker 8: I was able to speak to a lot of text messages,

484
00:25:16,119 --> 00:25:19,679
Speaker 8: a lot of interaction with agents, with some, but everybody,

485
00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:23,280
Speaker 8: absolutely one on board, honored, wants to be a part

486
00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:23,560
Speaker 8: of it.

487
00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:24,400
Speaker 1: Uh.

488
00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:25,760
Speaker 2: And that's that's that's exciting.

489
00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:29,080
Speaker 4: How often when you're calling a game, do guys see

490
00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:30,840
Speaker 4: you at the table and try to sneak over there

491
00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:33,399
Speaker 4: and say, hey, man, keep my name on your list,

492
00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:34,919
Speaker 4: keep my name in your thoughts.

493
00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:39,000
Speaker 8: Yeah, you know, I get a lot of hey, legend

494
00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:41,720
Speaker 8: and uh, you know, and no, I'm joking now. I

495
00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:44,160
Speaker 8: mean I've had a good rapport with most guys, and

496
00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:48,840
Speaker 8: you know, one of the interesting things and and things

497
00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:51,600
Speaker 8: that are the most enjoyable about this is getting to

498
00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:57,720
Speaker 8: know these players and their stories, their backgrounds, their interest.

499
00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:00,720
Speaker 8: We had a chance this summer with this group and

500
00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:03,960
Speaker 8: sort of planning for next summer. We've we've done that,

501
00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:07,159
Speaker 8: We've had a chance. I talked about my interactions with Joelle,

502
00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:11,119
Speaker 8: and you know, they just like Chelsea, they want they

503
00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:14,080
Speaker 8: want to compete, they want to do great things. They

504
00:26:14,119 --> 00:26:17,879
Speaker 8: want to be a part of an incredible legacy. Although

505
00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:20,480
Speaker 8: our generations maybe are a little bit different, we've had

506
00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:24,960
Speaker 8: different experiences, there's that common theme of wanting to compete

507
00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:28,280
Speaker 8: and compete on the highest stage. And so I'm just

508
00:26:28,359 --> 00:26:30,760
Speaker 8: grateful that all of these players. I wish all of

509
00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:33,560
Speaker 8: them could come, you know, and because they're just incredible

510
00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:38,280
Speaker 8: people who really make USA basketball and the men's team.

511
00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:42,120
Speaker 8: It's the leadership, obviously, but it's the Chelsea Grays, it's

512
00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:45,760
Speaker 8: the you know, it's the guys who've played and will play.

513
00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:48,880
Speaker 8: That's what makes this thing so unique and so special.

514
00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:52,240
Speaker 8: And so I'm just grateful for all forty one. And

515
00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:54,119
Speaker 8: you know what, there were probably some who were upset

516
00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:56,239
Speaker 8: that they weren't a part. I'm grateful for that. You know,

517
00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:59,320
Speaker 8: people want to do this and that's that's special.

518
00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:02,640
Speaker 4: Well, I want to wish all of you tremendous luck

519
00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:04,919
Speaker 4: this summer because there is so much to play for,

520
00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:08,719
Speaker 4: and yes, the expectations are high, but I think we

521
00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:10,600
Speaker 4: also have quite a bit of talent to choose from.

522
00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:13,640
Speaker 4: So I'm guessing both the men's and women senior teams

523
00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:18,080
Speaker 4: are gonna be pretty dang strong and three v three two,

524
00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:20,800
Speaker 4: I think it's gonna be more in the spotlight this

525
00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:23,440
Speaker 4: year than last time in Tokyo, so it's gonna be

526
00:27:23,480 --> 00:27:24,560
Speaker 4: really interesting.

527
00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:26,000
Speaker 3: To see how it all plays out.

528
00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:29,240
Speaker 4: Thank you guys all for joining us here and coming

529
00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:32,639
Speaker 4: together for this, and congratulations on the fiftieth anniversary for

530
00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:34,159
Speaker 4: USA Basketball.

531
00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:42,760
Speaker 3: And that'll do it for us. See you next time.

532
00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:44,800
Speaker 3: This league.

533
00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:46,520
Speaker 2: Uncuta is and iHeartRadio production

534
00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:53,159
Speaker 3: Chris Haines and Mark Stein