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The former Knick revealed the story of how he met Bryant on the Run Your Race Podcast. According to him, Bryant spoke to him in Italian after a Team USA practice during the summer of 2008. “I'm watching them practice and the trainer of the Knicks is with me and he was one of the trainers of the Team USA too,” Gallinari said about meeting Bryant. “And he's like listen, stay here a little bit more this practice because Kobe wants to meet you. I’m like really? So I stayed there, I waited, you know he's icing, stretching, you wait maybe an hour after practice. And then you know, not a lot of people in the states can say my name right and there I hear somebody say ‘Hey Danilo come here,’ In Italian ‘Danilo come here.’ Who’s speaking Italian in Vegas at Team USA practice. I look and it's Kobe. So he's walking with the ice on his knees and everything. I'm walking down the stairs and I'm there talking to Kobe. So that was amazing, he gave me shoes. I go back to my room and there is a letter that he wrote for me.”
LeBron James insists he's not playing at 2028 Olympics
You won again in 2012 and took a break in 2016 and 2020 — both were still gold medal years for the U.S. You played again and won gold again in Paris (in 2024). Afterward, you said it doesn’t seem probable that you’d play in the 2028 Summer Olympics, which is in your adopted hometown of Los Angeles. Any update on that? LeBron James: Nothing has changed. Where we at, man, 2025 right now? (Laughs) Nah, nothing has changed. I mean, if I had to look at it right now through a microscope, I would say that, me being able to support Team USA for the rest of my life — that’s for sure. But me actually going on and playing, I don’t see it happening. I’ve given everything that I have, and I will always be appreciative and loyal and dedicated to Team USA and USA Basketball.
Before moving to the NBA, Popovich spent 15 seasons in the collegiate ranks, working as an assistant coach on Hank Egan’s staff at the United States Air Force Academy, from 1973-79, before serving as the head coach for the Pomona-Pitzer Colleges from 1979-88. As the head coach of the USA Basketball Men’s National Team, Popovich led Team USA to the gold medal in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Fredette has been announced as the new Managing Director of 3x3 basketball for Team USA. "When USA Basketball approached me about this role, I jumped at it," Fredette started. "I’m determined to help build a sustainable program for years to come and, ultimately, the best 3x3 program in the world."
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With each step USA Basketball’s Nate Ament takes in his player edition Reeboks during the Hoop Summit, he will be giving respect to his mother by showcasing the colors of the Rwandan flag — light blue, yellow and green with a golden sun. “It’s really special for me to be able to do that,” Ament told Andscape. “And it’s a huge tribute to my mom with her hard work and dedication she’s put in and all her hardship that’s comes from Rwanda. It’s a tribute to the country as well. I’m trying to pay back to the country what it’s given to me, the perspective of love that I’ve felt from the country and all the support I’m receiving from them. “But also, it’s just a really cool design. An idea with the colors of the Rwandan flag really fit perfectly with the shoe.”
Amen is the top-ranked uncommitted boys basketball player in the ESPN 100 Class of 2025. The 6-foot-9 Colgan High (Va.) forward is playing with the country’s top high school senior boys basketball players with Team USA against the top international teens in the Hoop Summit. Ament is still undecided on where he will be playing in college next season but could decide soon. Ament is considering offers from Duke, Kentucky, Arkansas, Louisville and Tennessee. “Obviously, I’m trying to be respectful of the coaches and their time and effort they are putting into recruiting me,” Ament said. “But I’m really just trying to take time to not rush a decision, to make the right decision. I’m putting in as much time and energy and focus into the right school and making sure that whatever choice I pick, I have no doubts or no second thoughts.”
While Mukankuranga was fortunate to be in Italy at the time of the Rwandan genocide, her mother and numerous other family members still in Rwanda were murdered. Mukankuranga became an Italian citizen thanks to the Italian family that moved her over and adopted her. “When I finished nursing school, that’s when genocide happened with Rwanda,” Mukankuranga said. “They killed everybody. My mother, my brother, my two sisters, my uncles, my cousin. Everybody got killed except me, my two sisters, who are now in Italy, and one brother who stayed in Rwanda. Everything was completely finished and I was there [in Italy] by then. “My adoptive parents, they didn’t have any kids. I was there by myself in that family when they see everybody there and nobody left. That’s why they decided to adopt me, and I become their kid. And I become Italian. Everything I have is from Italy.”
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Jaylen Brown on not being picked by Team USA for Olympics: It was the best summer of my life, to be honest
Cementing your name in the history books. But you didn’t get called to the Olympics, when everybody knows you should have been in the Olympics. How did you feel? Did you feel any type of way? Did you not feel any type of way? Did you say, "It’s cool, I’ll be there next year. I’ll be there next time"? How did you take it? JAYLEN BROWN I’m gonna be honest with y’all. Gillie: Yes, that’s what we want! That’s why we needed you here—complete honesty. JAYLEN BROWN: Man, I had a great summer. I had a blast. I’m doing—I’m making—I’m in music videos, um, you know, I went to Mecca, I’m traveling the world. I mean, because online, you know, people perceive things a certain way. Because I was saying what I said. What I said—I meant what I said about, like, the shoe industry, etc. I meant what I said about, you know, everything. But that didn’t stop me from having a great-ass time this summer. So, like, to be honest, I was in great spirits. It was the best summer of my life, to be honest. So I didn’t miss out—to me. You know, even though it would have been great to be there, you know, amongst the greats—Steph, KD, LeBron, etc.—man, I had a great summer.
Basketball Africa League president Amadou Fall proudly smiled when he reflected on how the start of his league’s fifth “milestone season” on Saturday coincides with two of its esteemed alumni playing in the Final Four back in the United States. Duke freshman center Khaman Maluach of South Sudan is playing against Houston tonight in the national semifinals in San Antonio. Florida sophomore center Rueben Chinyelu of Nigeria will face Auburn in the other semifinal tonight. Both are BAL and NBA Africa Academy alums. Meanwhile, the BAL’s fifth season opens up for the first time in Morocco with two games tonight and the next generation of budding African stars on the horizon.
Marc J Spears: Former USA Basketball coach Steve Kerr said he would be surprised if Magic forward Paolo Banchero wasn’t playing for @usabasketball during the 2028 LA Olympics and that he received strong consideration for the 2024 Paris Olympics squad.
“He was cut out to be a great international player,” Jerry Colangelo, the former director of USA Basketball, told The Post. “The nuances of the international game, the 3-point distance is a little bit less. The pace of the game was perfect for him. And with his great skill of scoring, we went to him a lot. He had the ability to shoot anytime he wanted to. Because most of the time he’s going to score. He had a few games where, in my mind, he didn’t miss any shots. Loved his competitiveness. He was great in our system. I think he made other people better. And he was committed all the way.”
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