Team USA men’s national basketball team just finished off winning the gold medal at the 2024 Olympics in Paris but now they may be searching for a new leader. Current head coach Steve Kerr is likely to step down from his position and if he does, two names could become options.
According to Marc Stein in his latest substack, Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue and Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra are seen as candidates. Both are already on the bench with Team USA, making the transition from assistant to head coach a natural one.
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Both Lue and Spoelstra are regarded as top coaches in the NBA, known for their in-game creativity. They both have seen a lot of success making adjustments in-game as well, leading to both winning championships in the league as the leading person on the bench.
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Despite Team USA winning the gold medal, Kerr had an embattled run as the head coach. He came under fire for his rotation choices, and the decision to bench Boston Celtics star forward Jayson Tatum in two separate incidents.
Kerr said that the hardest thing about coaching Team USA was having to put the rotations together with so much talent to work with.
“The hardest part of this job is you’re sitting at least a couple of guys who are world-class, some of the very best players on Earth,” Kerr added. “On one hand, it makes no sense at all. On the other, I’m asking these guys to just commit to winning one game and then move on to the next one. I have to do the same thing. And so I felt like last night those were the combinations that made the most sense.”
In addition to the United States winning the gold at the Olympics, Kerr coached Team USA to a fourth-place finish at the 2024 FIBA World Cup. In this tournament, they had a much less stacked lineup to work with.
If Kerr does decide to retire from coaching international play, he would at least go out on top. Winning a gold medal isn’t easy, especially with all the drama that came from the outside.
Either Lue or Spoelstra would make great replacements for Kerr if he steps down. They bring a winning culture and, like Kerr, aren’t afraid to make tough lineup decisions.
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