Grant Hill, managing director of the USA Basketball men’s national team, recalls his initial conversation with LeBron James regarding his potential return to the Olympic team, marking his first appearance since 2012.

The brief exchange occurred on April 9, 2023, just two days after James surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s NBA career points record. Hill, who was in Los Angeles for a TNT broadcast of the Lakers’ game against the Milwaukee Bucks, approached James during halftime, despite James sitting out due to left ankle soreness.

“At halftime, as I’m coming out from the back, and he’s on the court, I walked up to him,” Hill recollected. “I said, ‘Hey man, I need you in Paris.’ It was just kind of in passing, just kind of throw it up there on the wall and see what he says. He was like, ‘I’m in.’ Guys will say things, so you never know are they serious or not.”

Hill soon realized the seriousness of James’ commitment later that year. Following the U.S. team’s fourth-place finish at the FIBA World Cup, Tyronn Lue, a U.S. assistant coach who previously coached James with the Cleveland Cavaliers, facilitated ongoing discussions between Hill and James.

“After we lost the World Cup, T-Lue put us in contact, and we really communicated a lot over the course of this last year,” Hill said. “He was in from the first time we spoke last fall.”

In early October, USA Basketball received another significant commitment when Joel Embiid announced his decision to play for the U.S. rather than France or Cameroon. James even reached out to Hill with a congratulatory message following Embiid’s announcement.

“So (James) has been invested in this and excited about this, and I think understands and respects what this is and also how incredibly difficult it is,” Hill remarked. “So his presence and his leadership will serve us well in addition to his play.”

The announcement of the entire 12-man roster, including James, coincided with the 100-day mark until the Paris Games. At 39 years old, James will surpass Larry Bird’s record as the oldest U.S. Olympic men’s basketball player, set at 35 during the 1992 Dream Team.

James, and potentially Diana Taurasi, will make history as the first Americans to have a 20-year Olympic basketball career. James made his Olympic debut in 2004 after his rookie NBA season and participated in 2008 and 2012. He opted out of the 2016 Rio Games to rest after leading the Cavs to their first NBA title and was not part of the Tokyo Olympic roster due to ankle recovery.

Reflecting on his upcoming return to the Olympics, James expressed excitement about competing alongside Lakers teammate Anthony Davis, who also returns for the first time since 2012. “When that moment happens, we’ll be extremely excited and extremely happy to put those uniforms back on and go against the world,” James remarked. “Will be a huge moment.”