Heat's Erik Spoelstra 'Humbled and Grateful' to Be USA Basketball HC for 2028 Olympics

Team USA basketball has named its head coach for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Erik Spoelstra, the long-time coach of the Miami Heat, will replace Steve Kerr as head coach after serving as a lead assistant on his staff in 2024. It was first reported that Spoelstra would take over head coaching duties last week.

"Everyone in this business wants to be a part of Team USA, the legacy and history of the program is the ultimate in the sport and I'm both humbled and grateful," Spoelstra said, per ESPN's Brian Windhorst. "Competing on the world stage is so stimulating."

There is perhaps no current NBA coach more deserving of the head coaching job than Spoelstra. Since Gregg Popovich retired in May, Spoelstra is now the longest-tenured head coach in the NBA, leading the Heat since the 2008-09 season.

Spoelstra, who got his first NBA job with Miami in 1997, has led the Heat to six NBA Finals appearances, winning two championships. He's missed the playoffs just three times.

Team USA needs a coach like Spoelstra as it prepares for what should be a tough path to gold at the 2028 Olympics.

The United States relied on Olympic veterans like LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry at the Paris Olympics, but will likely have to manage without those three stars in 2028 as they near the ends of their careers.

There will be plenty of talent on the roster still, with young players like Jayson Tatum, Anthony Edwards and others still in their prime, but it will be a new era for the Americans.

The international competition has also never been better.

Things were already tough in 2024, as the United States had to battle to get past the Nikola Jokić-led Serbian team and the Victor Wembanyama-led French team, and the talent gap between the United States and the rest of the world continues to shrink every year.

But Spoelstra is up for the challenge, and he's embracing what it means to be the head coach of Team USA.

"Moments like those are a testament to what USA Basketball is all about," Spoelstra told Windhorst. "No matter what friction or misunderstandings you may have had in the NBA, it all gets moved aside because you have the same goal."