MIAMI – As Miami Heat’s Erik Spoelstra will be the new head coach for the USA men’s basketball team, he succeeds Golden State Warriors’ Steve Kerr, coming off a gold medal win in last year’s Olympics in Paris, France. While Heat’s Spoelstra takes in being next in line to lead the USA to further success, Kerr would explain how the Miami coach is perfect for the job.
With the Heat and Warriors facing each other on Wednesday night, both would speak about their relationship with each other, especially since Spoelstra was an assistant coach under Kerr on Team USA. When Kerr was asked before Wednesday’s game about what he would say to Spoelstra about transitioning, he believes there’s not a lot to say, since the long-time Miami coach is “incredible,” even saying he is “one of the great coaches of all time.”
“I don’t need to tell him anything,” Kerr said. “Spo is an incredible coach, and you know, he’s had a couple of years now in USA basketball with the World Cup and the Olympics, so he knows what it’s about. He’s got a great relationship with Chuck Ford and Grant Hill. So he was a great choice.”
“He’s one of the great coaches of all time,” Kerr continued. “Great awareness of what FIBA is about, the difference between coaching a team for seven weeks and coaching one for nine months, all of that stuff. He’s just he’s got his finger on the pulse of it all. He’s gonna be great.”
Steve Kerr believes he doesn’t have to tell Erik Spoelstra anything about being Team USA head coach because he’s “one of the great coaches of all time.”
Full response: #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/E9bdFu1GN1
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Heat’s Erik Spoelstra on his experience with Steve Kerr on Team USA
The Heat head coach Spoelstra has said the USA job is an honor of a lifetime in the past, but there’s no doubt pressure in leading the country after very successful coaches before had held the mantle, like Kerr, Gregg Popovich, Mike Krzyzewski, and others. Even being on the staff as an assistant was an experience he won’t forget, going into what he saw from Kerr during that time.
“I’m just so incredibly grateful for having that opportunity to be on his staff,” Spoelstra said. “The last two summers, the entire staff, we had such an amazing time. It was a life experience. We all grew from it.”
“But I was so impressed with Steve [Kerr], just in terms of the way he was able to manage everything,” Spoelstra continued. “I mean, we all know that there was great pressure, and I think what’s part of his genius, he managed that beautifully, just getting the team, one, to handle all the expectations, and then getting the team to hit the stride at just the right time, and then be able to handle adversity like we did…That experience would be something I’ll never forget. The staff, we still have a group text, you know, we chat from time to time during the season.”
Erik Spoelstra says he hasn’t spoken to Steve Kerr extensively yet about being the new Team USA HC. Would go into how amazing of an experience it was to be an assistant with Kerr. #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/qeEcXYkAnf
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At any rate, it will be an exciting time for Spoelstra once he gets to coaching Team USA, but before that, there is a Heat season to focus on, as after Wednesday’s contest against Golden State, the team takes on the Chicago Bulls on Friday.
