Mark Daigneault, JB Bickerstaff, Mark Few Reportedly Expected to Join USA Basketball as Assistants
As USA Basketball enters its second year under head coach Erik Spoelstra, three new additions have been made to the staff.
Per ESPN's Shams Charania, Mark Daigneault of the Oklahoma City Thunder, JB Bickerstaff of the Detroit Pistons and Mark Few of Gonzaga will be assistants on Spoelstra's staff.
Spoelstra moved into the head-coaching chair for USA Basketball after serving as an assistant on Steve Kerr's staff for the previous cycle that culminated with a gold-medal win at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
This will mark the first stint on the U.S. National Team for each of Daigneault, Bickerstaff and Few. It does potentially set up one of them to take over for Spoelstra after this Olympic cycle, though it doesn't always follow that pattern.
Mike Krzyzewski coached the United States at three consecutive Olympics in 2008, 2012 and 2016, then was replaced by Gregg Popovich for the 2020 cycle despite the San Antonio Spurs legendary coach not being an assistant in any of those prior Games.
Prior to that handoff, though, you have to go all the way back to the post-1996 cycle to find the last time a head coach was appointed without having been an assistant in the previous round.
Daigneault just finished his sixth season with the Thunder. He has led them to the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference in each of the last three years, including an NBA title during the 2024-25 campaign.
Bickerstaff has 10 seasons of experience as an NBA head coach with four different teams. He owns a 359-350 overall record and has most recently led a swift turnaround for the Pistons with a 30-win turnaround from 14 wins before his hiring to 44 wins in his first season in 2024-25.
The 2025-26 campaign saw the Pistons finish 60-22, their most in a season since 2005-06 (64-18).
Few is the fourth-longest tenured head coach at a single school in Division I among active coaches. He has spent 27 seasons at Gonzaga, compiling a 773-156 record and two appearances in the national title game.
The 63-year-old Few also has experience with USA Basketball, including winning gold as an assistant on Kerr's staff in 2024. He also worked as an assistant coach at times during Popovich's tenure in 2018 minicamp and for the select team in 2019 and 2021.
Team USA's next marquee event is the FIBA World Cup in 2027. The Americans finished fourth at the 2023 tournament, losing to Canada in overtime in the third-place game.
The 2028 Olympics will be held in Los Angeles from July 14-30. America has won five consecutive Olympic gold medals dating back to 2008.
