Erik Spoelstra, Ty Lue could replace Steve Kerr as Team USA basketball coach, per report

While the high of winning a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics surely hasn’t worn off for Team USA, planning for the 2028 Olympics has already begun. We’ve already heard USA Basketball director Grant Hill talk about how Finals MVP Jaylen Brown would be considered for the ’28 Games in Los Angeles, and Marc Stein has reported that Joel Embiid is considering playing for his birth country of Cameroon for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics if he’s granted the approval from both FIBA and USAB. 

But beyond the roster, there’s also conversations about who the next head coach of the men’s national team will be, as the Paris Games are expected to be the end of Kerr’s time at the helm. Team USA is expected to decide between Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue, per Stein.

Kerr said in November that he didn’t plan on coaching the national team past the 2024 Olympics, as he saw it as a two-year commitment.

“To me, it’s a two-year; it’s a cycle,” Kerr said via The Athletic. “Pop coached a World Cup and the Olympics, now it’s my turn to pass the baton. I think that’s kind of how it should be. Frankly, it’s a huge commitment too. I guess I think it was different the last go-around with Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski) and Jerry (Colangelo), when they were really establishing this culture and this system where guys had to commit for a couple years. Made sense for Coach K to stay on. But I think where we are now, one cycle and you move on.”

Both Spoelstra and Lue served as assistant coaches under Kerr at the Paris Games, and were on the staff of the FIBA World Cup team that finished fourth in 2023. Spoelstra also served as head coach of the 2021 Select Team that trained with the men’s national team en route to the Tokyo Olympics.

Both coaches come with a wealth of championship experience. Spoelstra has won two championships while in charge with the Heat, and has been to six NBA Finals in total. Lue has made three NBA Finals appearances and won one title while at the helm with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Both coaches have been amongst the winningest in the league over the past decade, and are well respected in the NBA.

Whoever is named as the next head coach, the first thing on the docket would be the 2027 FIBA World Cup. Team USA has had a poor showing in each of the last two World Cup competitions, coming in fourth place in 2023 and a shocking seventh-place finish in 2019. Getting the biggest names to compete for the World Cup has always been an issue for Team USA, which is part of why the Americans struggle in the competition, and 2027 will surely be no different. Anthony Edwards has already ruled out competing in the tournament, and he likely won’t be the only young star who won’t consider it. But whoever is on the roster, it will be up to either Spoelstra or Lue to get the most out of the players and try to improve upon previous World Cup shortcomings.