USA Basketball picks Steve Kerr as next coach of men's national team
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr will be looking to bring home another title at the 2024 Olympics. Kerr was named the next head coach of the U.S. men's basketball team Monday.
USA Basketball announced the hire, and revealed the rest of Kerr's staff, in a statement. Kerr previously served as an assistant coach for the team under former head coach Gregg Popovich. Kerr's coaching staff will include Gonzaga University's Mark Few, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams.
Kerr said he was "beyond excited" to be named the team's next head coach.
“I’m also beyond excited to work with three coaches I have enormous respect for in Erik Spoelstra, Monty Williams and Mark Few. Coaching the USA Men’s National Team comes with great responsibility — one that calls for a group effort with a team of coaches committed to the team, to the goal and to each other — and I couldn’t ask for a finer group of high character individuals to help me lead our national team. Our goal, of course, is to win and make our country proud. We will work hard to do so.”
Kerr has experience in basketball that stretches beyond his time with Team USA. Kerr spent 15 seasons in the NBA, winning five championships. He got into coaching following his playing career, and joined the Warriors for the 2014-15 NBA season. Kerr led the Warriors to three championships during his first five years with the team. After missing out on the playoffs the past two seasons, the Warriors are tied with the Suns for the most wins in the NBA during the 2021-22 season.
Spoelstra also has championship experience, leading the Heat to two titles during his 14 seasons as the team's head coach. Williams — who spent nine years in the NBA — turned a lowly Suns franchise into contenders. Few has coached Gonzaga for over two decades. He's led the team to two Final Four appearances and won the AP Coach of the Year award in 2017. Few was arrested on a DUI charge in September. He pleaded guilty and served a one-game suspension for his actions in October.
