Team USA won the Olympic gold medal in basketball once again at the Tokyo Olympics, furthering their continued dominance of the sport on the Olympic stage. This is the team’s 4th gold medal in a row, and that is certainly an insane accomplishment.
Even if the team got a lot of good press after the win, there were some concerns about the team at the start of the Olympics after they lost some exhibition games. Some of the criticism was directed at head coach Gregg Popovich’s coaching. There were even reports that the players were frustrated with Gregg Popovich running the “San Antonio Offense” for the team. However, those concerns were quieted the moment the United States beat France in the Finals.
Gregg Popovich’s coaching certainly contributed to the United States’ success at the Olympics. However, Popovich is getting older, and Team USA will eventually have to find a replacement in order to continue their tradition of winning. Zach Lowe reported that “no one is sure” whether Gregg Popovich will coach in the NBA during the 2022-23 season, though it remains a possibility. With this news, it seems possible that both the San Antonio Spurs and Team USA will have to find a replacement for the legendary coach in the not-so-distant future.
Marc Stein has recently reported that Steve Kerr is someone who has “emerged as a favorite” to take over from Gregg Popovich in the future. There’s no doubt that Kerr is accomplished as a coach, and he was notably an assistant coach for Team USA at Tokyo.
Golden State's Steve Kerr has emerged as a favorite to succeed San Antonio's Gregg Popovich as head coach for the USA Basketball senior men's national team, league sources say.
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— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) September 30, 2021
Aside from his 3 championships with the Golden State Warriors, Steve Kerr has 5 championships as a player. His whole career has been about winning, and there’s an argument that he’s had the most underrated career in NBA history. He has international experience, and his winning pedigree speaks for itself.
It remains to be seen if Steve Kerr will end up getting named the future head coach of Team USA. There are plenty of coaches who could do a great job with the team, but Kerr is definitely one of the best candidates out there. We’ll see what happens, but Steve Kerr is certainly deserving of the opportunity.
