After winning a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics — even with some unwarranted internal controversy regarding Jayson Tatum — Steve Kerr is reportedly done coaching Team USA men’s basketball, according to longtime NBA reporter Marc Stein.
The news does not come as a shock, as the legendary Golden State Warriors head coach has previously told The Athletic he would likely step down as the Americans’ head man after the Paris Games because he always thought the job was like a “baton” to be passed along.
Where it gets interesting is who will likely replace Kerr, especially as the USA program starts looking ahead to Los Angeles in 2028. Stein has said Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra and Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue are the top two replacement candidates, a decision that feels like a no-brainer either way.
However, let me make the decision for the Americans rather easy.
It should be Spoelstra. Running away.
With no disrespect to Lue, who I think is comfortably a top-five coach in NBA basketball right now, Spoelstra is clearly the best coach in the men’s game. In fact, it’s not even close. Frankly, I was always a little surprised the master tactician from Miami wasn’t the USA coach for this past Olympics cycle, as I actually think Spoelstra is a lot better than Kerr.
Spoelstra’s qualifications basically speak for themselves.
He’s led the Heat to two NBA titles, with six overall appearances in the NBA Finals since 2011. The Heat have missed the playoffs only three times in his entire tenure, which started in the 2008-2009 season. Anyone you talk to about the game often touts Spoelstra’s innate ability to maximize whatever talent he has on hand. He is, in effect, the purveyor of the infamous “Heat Culture” that has become a meme in NBA circles precisely because you really can never count Miami out as long as Spoelstra is coaching. That’s because he’s a brilliant basketball junkie through and through.
Now imagine the guy known for taking “gritty” and often haphazardly pieced-together teams coaching a squad of all the best American players on the planet. Hoo boy. This isn’t to say the Americans are facing any real threat of losing their gold-medal perch in Los Angeles, but more that Spoelstra’s coaching would probably make them somehow even more of a virtual shoo-in.
Make the right decision, USA basketball. Let Kerr pass that baton to Spoelstra. He’s earned it.