On Saturday, Team USA’s men’s basketball team defeated France in the 2024 Paris Olympics to earn their fifth consecutive gold medal. Led by LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant, many have argued that this may be Team USA’s greatest Olympic team of all time. This includes the 1992 “Dream Team.” However, with the 2028 Olympics in LA still a long time away, the status of some of the NBA’s veterans remains unclear. Durant kept the possibility of playing in the 2028 Olympics open. However, James, who took home the Olympics MVP award, was even less committed. Furthermore, per NBA reporter Evan Sidery, Team USA head coach Steve Kerr has likely coached his final Olympic team. In a post on X, Sidery mentioned that Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra will likely take over as Kerr’s replacement.
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
3x USA Gold Medalist Likely Retiring From Olympics
Steve Kerr is One of the Most Decorated Figures in NBA History
The former second-round pick won five championships as a player with the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs. Additionally, he won four more championships as the head coach of the Golden State Warriors. Furthermore, the USA’s men’s basketball team’s latest victory gave Kerr his third gold medal in his Olympic career. During the 1986 Spain Olympics, Kerr won a gold medal as a player. And in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Kerr won as an assistant coach alongside then Team USA head coach Gregg Popovich.
Steve Kerr Was Heavily Criticized for His Coaching in the 2024 Paris Olympics
Despite his overall basketball success, many criticized Kerr’s coaching in the 2024 Paris Olympics. This was especially true given the controversial decision to sit Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum entirely for two games. In Team USA’s first game against Serbia, Kerr kept Tatum on the bench the whole game. Though it was a shocking move at the time, it became even more controversial when he did it again in Team USA’s second game against Serbia. Kerr explained his decision to sit the 2024 NBA Champion.
“It’s not what I’m not seeing from Jayson, it’s what I’ve seen from the other guys. Like I’ve said many times during this tournament and the last six weeks, it’s just hard to play 11 people, even in an NBA game.”
However, Tatum said this experience would not impact his decision to play in the 2028 Olympics.
“It was a tough personal experience on the court, but I’m not going to make any decision off emotions,” Tatum said. “If you asked me right now if I was going to play in 2028 — it is four years from now and I [would have] to take time and think about that. So I’m not going to make any decision based off how this experience was or how I felt individually.”
