The 2024 Paris Olympics figure to be a big tournament for USA Basketball, as they have had a number of top stars pledge their commitment to play for Team USA next summer in an effort to bounce back from a fourth place finish at this year’s FIBA World Cup.
LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant have all made it known they plan to play for Team USA, and it will likely be something of a last ride for that generation of stars. Joel Embiid has also committed to USA Basketball over France and Cameroon, a huge get for a team without a ton of depth at the center position. How Team USA assembles its rosters going forward for World Cup and Olympic cycles going forward remains to be seen, and that will be a task for a different head coach.
Steve Kerr, who took over for Gregg Popovich after the Tokyo Olympics, told The Athletic’s Joe Vardon that he will not be extending his tenure with USA Basketball beyond Paris, explaining that he believes the job is now a two-year cycle.
“No,” Kerr said bluntly when asked if he would coach Team USA after the Paris Games. “To me, it’s a two-year; it’s a cycle. Pop coached a World Cup and the Olympics, now it’s my turn to pass the baton. I think that’s kind of how it should be. Frankly, it’s a huge commitment too. I guess I think it was different the last go-around with Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski) and Jerry (Colangelo), when they were really establishing this culture and this system where guys had to commit for a couple years. Made sense for Coach K to stay on. But I think where we are now, one cycle and you move on.”
It does make sense for Kerr to move one, but that does mean Grant Hill and the rest of USA Basketball’s decision makers will need to have a succession plan in place. Tyronn Lue and Erik Spoelstra were lead assistants for Kerr at the World Cup and both figure to be frontrunners for the job once he steps down, as they have plenty of experience and the respect of top players around the NBA.
