Even before the composition of the American group for the Olympic Games, in November 2023, Steve Kerr had announced that he would leave the bench of Team USA after the competition in France. “For me, it's two years. It's a cycle. Gregg Popovich coached for the World Cup and the Olympics, now it's my turn to pass the baton.”he had said. So who will replace him? Erik Spoelstra And Tyronn Read have been coming back very often for the past few days.
A trend confirmed by our colleague Marc Steinwhich explains that the American Federation should decide between Steve Kerr's two assistants to take control of Team USA for the future.
A logical decision given the CVs of the two coaches. The first, Miami's coach since 2008, has been working with the American team for three years and, with his six Finals and two championship rings, Erik Spoelstra has established himself as one of the best tacticians in the NBA for fifteen years now.
Objective: 2027 World Cup and 2028 Olympic Games
The second has been on the Team USA bench since 2022 and his NBA career is marked by his title with LeBron James and Cleveland in 2016. Then by his very decent seasons with the Clippers.
Steve Kerr's successor will have to take charge of the American team at least for the 2027 World Cup and the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Because since the departure of Mike Krzyzewski, who remained on the bench between 2005 and 2016, this has been the classic mandate of a coach.
“I think it should be like this,” insisted the four-time NBA champion. “It was different with Mike Krzyzewski and Jerry Colangelo because they were trying to build a culture and a system for the years to come. It made sense for Coach K to stay. But at this point, you go through a cycle and you let go.”
