Steve Kerr to replace Gregg Popovich as Team USA coach

Gregg Popovich has been the head coach of the U.S. men’s national basketball team since 2015, but his run has come to an end.

Steve Kerr is replacing Popovich as Team USA’s head coach, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports. Kerr will coach the team at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2023 and then the 2024 Paris Olympics. Two other notable NBA head coaches — Erik Spoelstra and Monty Williams — will be part of Kerr’s staff. Longtime Gonzaga coach Mark Few will also serve as an assistant.

Kerr will replace Gregg Popovich as Team USA's next coach in the World Cup and 2024 Paris Olympics. He was an assistant on Popovich's gold-medal Olympic staff in Tokyo. https://t.co/Dxo8fXMsUT

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 10, 2021

There have been reports for a while that Team USA was eyeing Kerr as an eventual replacement for Popovich, but the timeline was unclear.

Popovich, 72, led Team USA to a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics last summer. Kerr served as an assistant on his staff. Kerr also won a gold medal as a player at the 1986 FIBA World Championship, which was the last American men’s senior team comprised of all amateur players.

Popovich is 72 and in his 26th season as the head coach of the San Antonio Spurs. There has been talk of the three-time NBA Coach of the Year retiring, but a recent report indicated he could stick around longer than expected.

The transition from Popovich to Kerr should be a smooth one for Team USA, especially since Kerr was already on the staff.