The Men’s USA basketball team will enter a new era with a new coach when they compete for Olympic gold in 2024. Warriors Coach Steve Kerr has officially been named the replacement of Gregg Popovich entering the 2023 World Cup and the 2024 Olympic games.
Kerr’s coaching staff up to this point include two NBA head coaches and one from college. They are Monty Williams (Phoenix Suns), Erik Spoelstra (Miami Heat), and Mark Few (Gonzaga University). This coaching staff is the beginning of Grant Hill’s tenure as managing director of USA Basketball after replacing long-time director Jerry Colangelo.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, a press conference to make the official announcement will come on Monday.
USA Basketball has called a Monday news conference the Chase Center in San Francisco to formally introduce Steve Kerr as the new national coach. https://t.co/1e2Sd75OgD
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 19, 2021
Kerr brings a resume that includes three NBA championships and five NBA Finals appearances as the head of the Golden State Warriors. He was one of the assistants on Popovich’s staff this past summer when Team USA took the gold medal. Monty Williams was a member of Mike Krzyzewski’s gold medal staff in 2016.
One significant advantage Steve Kerr has is the inside track to NBA superstar Stephen Curry who remains noncommittal to playing for Team USA but was excited for his coach nonetheless according to Woj.
“He talked about just he couldn’t imagine when he got into coaching in ’14 that we had the success we’ve had and he’d have the opportunity to leverage that into the next USA Men’s Basketball coach, which is pretty awesome,”
“I know it will probably flex a different muscle for him in terms of, it’s almost like borderline you’ve got to go recruit some guys, you’ve got to be the morale booster, you’ve got to put in a system. But it’s about the culture that you create around that team because you’re not together all the time. And how quickly can you guys jell. So that will be fun to watch.”
Kerr has been involved with Team USA basketball since 1986, when he started as a player that won the gold medal at the FIBA World Championship in Spain. It marked the last amateur team that won gold before the Americans were upset in the 1988 Olympics.
