Hill hadn’t even finished asking before Spoelstra gave his answer.
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“I’m in,” Spoelstra said.
With that, USA Basketball had its next Olympic coach. Hill didn’t have to finish asking the question. Everyone knew the deal was done.
And now the process of preparing for the 2027 World Cup in Qatar and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics can officially begin. Spoelstra, who was announced as coach earlier this week, and Hill sat side by side on Thursday, with USA Basketball pins on the left lapels of their blue jackets, beginning to lay out the plan toward what they hope will be more gold for the US.
“We’ve got our guy,” Hill said.
Spoelstra gathered some members of his family (his sister and three children) at the press conference, along with USA Basketball executives Jim Tooley and Sean Ford, Heat president Pat Riley, Heat CEO Nick Arison and virtually the entire Heat coaching staff.
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“I understand the expectations and responsibility of this position,” Spoelstra said.
If he didn’t understand, the Heat players would burst into the press conference to make sure he understood. Heat captain Bam Adebayo has been a part of the last two Olympic gold medals for the U.S., and he and many other teammates waved small American flags and chanted “USA!” much to Spoelstra’s delight.
Adebayo has said he also wants to play in the 2027 World Cup and the 2028 Olympic Games.
“Spo is a genius,” Adebayo said.
Spoelstra worked his way up the ranks of USA Basketball, first as a coach of the select team that helped the Olympic team Gregg Popovich coached win gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021, then as an assistant to Steve Kerr for the World Cup in 2023 and the Paris Games in 2024. His ties to USA Basketball extend even further than that; Spoelstra attended multiple camps with Olympic teams when Heat players like Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh were on American rosters.
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“Coach Spoelstra represents everything we strive to be,” Hill said.
Spoelstra decided to accept the job only after seeing how USA Basketball welcomes the family; He had his children with him in Paris. Making commitments for both summer 2027 and summer 2028 (always busy times for kids) wouldn’t have happened if his family hadn’t been able to join him.
“The family culture within USAB is simply extraordinary,” Spoelstra said. “The experience we had as a family at the Olympic Games will be memories we will have for the rest of our lives. So I couldn’t be more excited about this opportunity and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
It is not lost on Spoelstra either: he is the first Filipino-American to take on this role.
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“That’s America, right?” Spoelstra said.
Spoelstra has been with the Heat for more than 30 years, starting in the video room (in fact, he was hired shortly before the franchise brought in Riley to lead basketball operations in September 1995), en route to becoming head coach. He has been with the Heat for their three NBA titles, the last two with him as head coach, and is generally considered a lock to one day be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
“I’m very grateful for the opportunity these past 30 years to work for the Heat,” Spoelstra said.
Spoelstra will become the 17th different coach to lead the American men to an Olympic Games. Of the previous 16, 14 led the team to at least one gold medal.
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Spoelstra was believed to be under consideration when Hill, in what was his first major move as general manager of the men’s national team, the position he assumed after Jerry Colangelo helped the Americans win four consecutive Olympic gold medals in that role, hired Kerr in December 2021 for that World Cup and Olympic cycle.
Hill made that decision with Spoelstra in mind for this Olympic cycle, even arranging for him to spend time with Popovich after the Tokyo Games to plant some seeds.
“It worked,” Hill said.
Spoelstra learned shortly after Kerr was hired that he was going to be part of the coaching staff for the 2023 World Cup and the 2024 Olympics. He indicated that USA Basketball might take a little time before finalizing its group of assistants, and Hill said it could continue next year.
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“We just talked vaguely about it, but there are no specific details yet,” Spoelstra said. “We will start with initial conversations about the candidate pool and then also about personnel, then we will start talking freely about the logistics of the World Cup.”
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NBA AP: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA