If USA Basketball is looking to bring more tactical genius, sullen greatness, and dry wit to the international level, it looks like they have got the right guy in mind.
With the news on Monday that long-time Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski intends to step down from the post after the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, the search is on to name a successor. And according to a report by Ken Berger of CBS Sports on Tuesday, the number one choice is none other than legendary Spurs head coach, The Venerable Gregg Popovich.
Berger’s report cites “a person involved in the coaching business,” who is quoted as saying that Popovich is “clearly, unquestionably the No. 1 choice. There really is no second place.”
Popovich is seen as the top head coach in the NBA right now by a fairly wide margin. A five-time NBA champion and a three-time Coach of the Year, he is also one of the most respected figures in the league today.
While Pop doesn’t have a great deal of experience internationally (he served as an assistant for Team USA during the 2002 FIBA World Championship as well as for their infamous showing at the 2004 Olympic Games at Athens), it’s quite obvious why he’s the clear-cut No. 1 choice for the job. Having a head coach who is already held in the highest regard by the greater basketball community (not to mention Popovich’s elite coaching capabilities) is probably the most important factor for Team USA to weigh in choosing a successor to Krzyzewski.
As an Air Force graduate, Popovich would likely jump at the chance to represent his country internationally. Though naysayers may claim that he’s too old for the job (despite the fact that at 66, he’s two years younger than Coach K) and cast doubt at the idea of handing the keys to USA Basketball back to an NBA head coach, Jerry Colangelo would be hard-pressed to find a better man for the job than Popovich.
Plus, those foreign reporters would have no idea what hit them.
H/T NBA Reddit
