The United States' national men's basketball team will change hands from one all-time great all-time great coach to another.
Team USA announced Friday that Gregg Popovich, the San Antonio Spurs' head coach and president of basketball operations, will take over the national team after the 2016 Olympics, which will be Mike Krzyzewski's final international tournament.
"I'm extremely humbled and honored to have the opportunity to represent our country as the coach of the USA National Team," Popovich said in a Team USA news release. "What the program has accomplished over the last decade under the leadership of Jerry Colangelo and Mike Krzyzewski is truly impressive. I will do my utmost to maintain the high standards of success, class and character established by Jerry, Coach K and the many players who have sacrificed their time on behalf of USA Basketball."
A 1970 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Popovich joined the Spurs organization in 1988 as an assistant before taking the same position with the Golden State Warriors in 1992. Four years later, he became the head coach of the Spurs and has won five NBA Championships and three Coach of the Year Awards there since.
In the 2016 summer games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Krzyzewski and Team USA will look to maintain a 63-game winning streak in international play, which includes the FIBA World Championships. Team USA is also pursuing its fifth straight gold medal in both tournaments.
"Obviously this is an incredibly exciting step for the USA Basketball Men's National Team program as we will transition following the 2016 Rio Olympics from one of the game's greatest coaches in Mike Krzyzewski to another of basketball's greatest coaches in Gregg Popovich," USA Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo said in the release. "This progression plan will also help ensure that our National Team will continue to build on the culture and success we have achieved since launching the program."
