By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
A new era for Team USA after the 2024 Olympic Games. Besides plenty of veteran players heading to a final showing at the international level, head coach Steve Kerr intends to step down from his position.
“To me, it’s a two-year cycle. Pop coached a World Cup and the Olympics, now it’s my turn to pass the baton,” he told The Athletic, referring to Gregg Popovich guiding the United States from 2019 to 2021, “I think that’s kind of how it should be.”
Kerr, 58, succeeded Pop as the new head coach in 2021. His efforts resulted in a fourth-place finish in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, held in Asia last summer. At the bottom end of the two-year international cycle, Team USA will compete in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
“Frankly, it’s a huge commitment too,” the head coach of the Golden State Warriors in the NBA described responsibilities connected to the senior national team of his country.
“I guess I think it was different the last go-around with Coach K and Jerry, 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,” he commented on Mike Krzyzewski partnering with managing director Jerry Colangelo way beyond a two-year term, “I think where we are now, one cycle and you move on.”
Team USA is expected to feature numerous NBA stars in France next summer, including LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant.