Erik Spoelstra is the new U.S. men’s basketball head coach, tasked with guiding the Americans to a sixth consecutive Olympic title in 2028 in Los Angeles.
Spoelstra, the longest-tenured active NBA head coach with one team (18th season with the Miami Heat), succeeds Steve Kerr, who led the U.S. to gold in 2024.
At the Paris Games, the Americans beat Serbia in the semifinals after trailing by 13 after three quarters. In the final, they doused a late France rally with Stephen Curry hitting four three-pointers in the last three minutes.
Spoelstra, 54, would be the second-youngest U.S. Olympic men’s basketball head coach in the Dream Team era after Rudy Tomjanovich, who was 51 in 2000.
Spoelstra would also be the fifth consecutive Olympic head coach who was an assistant coach at a previous Olympics.
| Coach | Olympic Assistant Year | Olympic Head Coach Year(s) |
| Erik Spoelstra | Paris 2024 | Los Angeles 2028 |
| Steve Kerr | Tokyo 2020 | Paris 2024 |
| Gregg Popovich | Athens 2004 | Tokyo 2020 |
| Mike Krzyzewski | Barcelona 1992 | Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016 |
| Larry Brown | Sydney 2000 | Athens 2004 |
| Rudy Tomjanovich | N/A | Sydney 2000 |
| Lenny Wilkens | Barcelona 1992 | Atlanta 1996 |
| Chuck Daly | N/A | Barcelona 1992 |
Spoelstra played point guard for the University of Portland Pilots from 1988-92, then boxed shoes in a Nike warehouse before a German club signed him as a player-coach, according to Sports Illustrated.
After two seasons in Germany, he began his Miami Heat career in 1995 as a video coordinator.
He was the head coach of NBA champion teams in 2012 and 2013 and lost in the Finals in 2011, 2014, 2020 and 2023.
A recent poll of NBA general managers voted Spoelstra the “best coach in the NBA” as well as the best manager/motivator.
The next major international tournament is the FIBA World Cup in 2027 in Qatar.
The U.S. finished fourth and seventh at the last two World Cups in 2023 and 2019, fielding teams without NBA superstars.
Jimmer Fredette is in charge of choosing the U.S. men’s 3×3 basketball rosters for the World Cup and Olympics.
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