Steve Kerr stepped down as the head coach of USA Basketball after he led the team to a gold medal at the Paris Olympics last year, and he is being replaced by a fellow NBA champion.
Erik Spoelstra will take over as the new head coach of Team USA, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Thursday.
Spoelstra was the lead assistant under Kerr during the 2024 Olympics. There had been reports since last year that the Miami Heat coach and Los Angeles Clippers coach Tyronn Lue were the frontrunners to take over for Kerr.
Like Kerr, the 54-year-old Spoelstra is one of the most decorated coaches in the NBA. Spoelstra has been the head coach of the Heat since 2008 and won two championships with the team. He has led Miami to the Eastern Conference Finals seven times and NBA Finals six times.
Kerr succeeded Gregg Popovich as the head coach of Team USA in 2021.
Spoelstra will coach Team USA at the 2027 FIBA World Cup in Qatar, which begins next August. He will then try to lead the team to a sixth consecutive gold medal as the host nation at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
