Kerr officially named USA basketball coach

(AP):

Steve Kerr saw everything that Gregg Popovich went through as coach of the US men's national team, saw exactly how difficult it was last summer for the Americans to emerge from the Tokyo Olympics with another gold medal.

And when he walked off the floor for the last time in Tokyo, he was drained.

"It wasn't easy," Kerr said.

It was just further proof that the days of US cakewalks to gold are over. He decided to take the job anyway.

Kerr was formally announced as the next coach of the US men's team in San Francisco yesterday, a not-very-well-kept secret in recent weeks that the Golden State coach would be taking over for Popovich and leading the Americans -- if they qualify -- into the 2023 Basketball World Cup and the 2024 Paris Olympics. Kerr's assistants will be Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams and Gonzaga coach Mark Few.

Williams has been an assistant before, under former US coach Mike Krzyzewski. Spoelstra and Few were involved in coaching the US select team, which was assembled to practise against the Olympic team, this past summer.

"Coaching the USA men's national team comes with great responsibility -- one that calls for a group effort with a team of coaches committed to the team, to the goal and to each other -- and I couldn't ask for a finer group of high character individuals to help me lead our national team," Kerr said. "Our goal, of course, is to win and make our country proud. We will work hard to do so."

Kerr would be the 16th different coach to take the US men into an Olympics. Of the previous 15, 13 have emerged with gold.