Erik Spoelstra’s expected appointment to the role of Team USA men’s Olympic basketball coach was made official on Wednesday, when the nation’s basketball federation named him Steve Kerr’s successor.
Besides continuing to guide the Heat, Spoelstra will coach the U.S. team in the 2027 Men’s World Cup in Qatar and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Spoelstra’s term as Team USA coach runs through 2028.
Also, Spoelstra will coach at training camps and USA Basketball Showcase exhibitions before both the World Cup and Olympics.
“It’s an incredible honor to be named head coach of the USA Basketball Men’s National Team,” Spoelstra said. “Representing our country and leading world-class athletes to marquee competitions is one of the greatest privileges in sport. I look forward to carrying on the tradition of excellence and teamwork that defines USA Basketball.”
Spoelstra told The Associated Press that he is “absolutely, absolutely humbled. It’s the honor of a lifetime... The Olympics are incredible, no matter where it is, but to have the opportunity to compete on your own soil, that’s simply remarkable.”
The federation said Spoelstra was chosen by USA Basketball’s Men’s National Team managing director Grant Hill, with the decision also approved by the USA Basketball Board of Directors.
“I have known Erik Spoelstra for the better part of two decades and have gotten to know him better throughout our time with USA Basketball,” Hill said. “Spo is not only an outstanding coach, but a great colleague, friend and father, all of which make him the perfect choice to continue the USA Basketball Men’s National Team coaching legacy through 2028.”
Spoelstra was an assistant coach on Kerr’s staff at the 2024 Paris Olympics -- when the U.S. men’s team won its fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal -- and at the 2023 FIBA Men’s World Cup, where the USA finished fourth.
Spoelstra previously served as head of the 2021 USA Basketball Men’s Select Team, which trained alongside the 2020 USA Men’s National Team ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
“Erik Spoelstra is one of the most widely respected head coaches around the game of basketball,” USA Basketball CEO Jim Tooley said. “As the longest tenured coach with one team, along with his involvement with USA Basketball the past several years, he is well positioned to lead the USA Men’s National Team at the 2027 FIBA World Cup and 2028 Olympic Games.”
Spoelstra, who is entering his 18th season as the Heat’s coach, guided Miami to NBA championships in 2012 and 2013, and led the team to four other Finals, the most recent in June 2023, when the Heat lost to the Denver Nuggets.
His 787 wins (opposite 572 losses) are 17th all time. If the Heat wins 46 games this season, he would pass Cotton Fitzsimmons for 16th on the list. Former Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who retired this past offseason, is first all time with 1,390 wins, a record that could be within Spoelstra’s reach.
NBA.com recently released its annual survey of general managers, and Spoelstra was voted the top coach for the sixth consecutive year, receiving 52% of the votes. Oklahoma City’s Mark Daigneault was second at 34%.
Roster moves
The Heat released guard Gabe Madsen and signed undrafted Temple forward Steve Settle. Those two roster moves were made to allow the funneling of both players to their G-League team in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Settle played for the Heat’s summer league team.
Here’s my Tuesday 6-pack of Heat notes, including an update on Bam Adebayo.