MIAMI — Erik Spoelstra soon again will be coaching with championship expectations.
According to numerous sources familiar with the process, Spoelstra will be named the next coach of the USA Basketball senior national men’s team, taking over from Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr.
A party familiar with the process said a vote by USA Basketball is expected to formalize the announcement likely within the next week.
A presence with the national team during the coaching tenures of Gregg Popovich and Kerr, Spoelstra next will be charged with turning his championship pedigree with the Miami Heat into Team USA Olympic gold at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. The USA Basketball role also would have Spoelstra coaching Team USA at the 2027 World Cup in Qatar.
In July 2021, Spoelstra took on his first USA Basketball coaching responsibility as head coach of the 2021 USA Select Team that trained with and against the 2020 U.S. Olympic team that would win gold in Tokyo.
Then, on Dec. 20, 2021, Spoelstra was announced as an assistant coach for the 2022-24 national team cycle under Kerr, alongside Los Angeles Clippers coach Tyronn Lue and Gonzaga coach Mark Few.
From the start, Spoelstra, 54, has made clear he would serve in whatever USA Basketball role was requested.
“It felt like a pinch myself moment to be asked to be a part of USA Basketball’s program,” he has said of the experience. “It’s something that I dreamt about for a long time. It has an illustrious history, and we’ve all followed the history of the U.S. program for a long time.
“There’s some historic moments and teams, and you just never think that you’re gonna have an opportunity to be a part of it, so it’s a dream come true.”
🫡🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/6Z7UoZ1rvF
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) August 10, 2024
Lue had been considered the other finalist to replace Kerr, who made clear ahead of the 2024 Olympics that he would be stepping down from the national team.
As assistant coach, Spoelstra helped lead the USA Men’s National Team, including at all training camps, exhibitions, the 2023 FIBA World Cup and the 2024 Olympics, where the result was a gold medal at those Paris Games.
The U.S. National Team has a 21-3 record during Spoelstra’s time with the program.
Spoelstra’s previous honors include in 2022 being named one of the 15 Greatest Coaches in NBA History during the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Season. In 2017, he shared the National Basketball Coaches Association inaugural Michael H. Goldberg Coach of the Year Award with Mike D’Antoni.
Spoelstra’s Heat resume includes coaching the team to NBA championships in 2012 and ’13, as well as recent Heat appearances in the 2020 and ’23 NBA Finals. He is the longest-serving NBA coach with his current team, about to enter his 18th season leading the Heat.
Among those Spoelstra helped coach to 2024 Games gold was Heat center Bam Adebayo, who again could be part of the Olympic mix in 2028.
No previous Heat coach, including Heat president Pat Riley, has served as an Olympic head coach.
Poll praise
Speaking of Spoelstra, the annual NBA.com survey of league general managers that was released Thursday voted him the best coach in the league. Spoelstra also placed first in the category in last year’s preseason GM poll.
Spoelstra also was voted “best manager/motivator of people,” tying for third for in-game adjustments and placing third for defensive schemes.
In the coaching portion of the survey, the Heat’s Chris Quinn tied for fourth as best assistant coach.
Elsewhere in the poll, the Heat were projected not to be among the top eight teams in the Eastern Conference, with Heat No. 20 pick Kasparas Jakucionis ranked as the biggest steal of the draft.
Rooting interest
The Heat’s rooting interest in the WNBA Finals became further evident immediately after Wednesday night’s preseason loss to the San Antonio Spurs, when the locker room paused to watch A’ja Wilson’s decisive basket that staked the Las Vegas Aces to a 3-0 lead in that best-of-seven series against the Phoenix Mercury.
Adebayo, who has referred to Wilson as his “significant other,” watched the play separately and then returned to the locker room and noted, “job’s not finished yet.” Game 4 of that series is Friday.
