Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is the leading candidate and is expected to be named the head coach of USA Basketball’s men’s team for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and the 2027 World Cup in Qatar, according to multiple reports.
A contract has yet to be signed and finalized, but could be before the month is out. Tim Reynolds at the Associated Press notes any deal would have to be approved by the USA Basketball board of directors, who are set to meet later in October.
Spoelstra would take over for Steve Kerr, who stepped away after the team won gold at the Paris Olympics, the fifth consecutive gold medal for the American men’s team. Spoelstra served as an assistant coach on Kerr’s staff in Paris and at the World Cup before that. Spoelstra had said previously he would be honored to be considered for the job, and he would be the first Heat coach ever to hold the position.
Entering his 18th NBA season, Spoelstra is the longest-tenured head coach in the NBA (by six years, Kerr is the second-longest tenured). Spoelstra was just voted the “best coach in the NBA” in the annual poll of general managers, who also said he is the best manager and motivator of players in the league.
Spoelstra has led the Heat to six NBA Finals appearances, winning two (with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh) in 2012 and 2013.
USA Basketball has to select a coach who elite players want to play for, someone for whom the game’s best are willing to spend their summer with him in a gym. Someone above the petty fray of agents and shoe politics that can try to influence decisions. Spoelstra fits that mold, he is highly respected by players.
This report comes just days after USA Basketball announced that Duke coach Kara Lawson will coach the USA women’s national team for the next Olympic cycle and the Los Angeles Games.
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