Could Erik Spoelstra be Team USA's next head coach?

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra just concluded his first Olympic run as an assistant coach under head coach Steve Kerr with Team USA, who earned their fifth-straight Gold Saturday with a 98-87 win over France. It came on the heels of a disappointing 2023 FIBA World Cup, where USA didn’t medal as a result of losses to Germany (semifinals) and Canada (third-place game) with a much worse team.

According to NBA reporter Evan Sidery of Forbes, Kerr “is likely” to retire as the team’s head coach after just one Olympic stint. Could Spoelstra, Kerr’s lead assistant, fill in those shoes? According to Sidery, he’s the presumptive favorite.

Steve Kerr is likely to retire as Team USA head coach, which means a new lead voice for 2028 in Los Angeles.

Erik Spoelstra is viewed as the strong internal favorite to become Team USA’s next in line following Gregg Popovich and Kerr. pic.twitter.com/njYm4I8Cfx

— Evan Sidery (@esidery) August 11, 2024

According to @esidery, Team USA head coach Steve Kerr is “likely to retire” as head coach ahead of the 2028 #Olympics in Los Angeles.

Erik Spoelstra is viewed as “the strong internal favorite” to replace Kerr.

Spoelstra joined Kerr’s USA coaching staff in Dec. of 2021. pic.twitter.com/pudGrl7UFn

— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) August 11, 2024

Spoelstra joined Kerr’s USA coaching staff in Dec. of 2021 after being the head coach of the 2021 Select Team that trained and practiced with Team USA ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Spoelstra, 53, was on staff alongside longtime Gonzaga head coach Mark Few and current Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue. Lue was the most recent addition to the staff, replacing Monty Williams in Feb. of 2023, while Few has been an assistant in various roles since 2018.

As we know, Spoelstra is a brilliant tactician–specifically on the defensive side of the ball. He’s helped guide the Miami Heat defense to top-10 finishes each of the last nine seasons in non-garbage-time possessions, according to Cleaning The Glass; three of those units finished in the top-5, including in 2023-24, where they ranked No. 5 after allowing just 112.7 points per 100 possessions in such situations. Spoelstra’s routinely done more with less, helping lead the 8th-seeded Heat to the NBA Finals in 2022-23, which was an unprecedented run.

Team USA has secured gold medals in eight of the last nine Olympics. They have outscored opponents by an average of 24.8 points in Olympic play over their last five, including 19 points in the 2024 Olympics with five of their six wins coming by double figures and four by 20-plus.

They have already qualified for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, Calif., with it being the host country. Though one could assume that Kerr–should he follow through with retirement–leaves before the 2027 FIBA World Cup in Qatar, which would allow Spoelstra to acclimate his staff and evaluate who he would bring up for the 2028 Olympics.

Nevertheless, this would be a phenomenal opportunity for the Heat head coach, who’s arguably the best in the sport and, respectfully, better than his predecessor.