Why Steve Kerr Isn't The Right Coach For Team USA
The Team USA men's basketball squad narrowly escaped a massive upset bid from Serbia on Thursday, winning 95-91 after coming back from down by 18 points. The refrain should be a familiar one to NBA fans: the brilliance of Stephen Curry (36 points) bailing out the flaws of his coach Steve Kerr.
Kerr has been met with a number of criticisms throughout his coaching career. Some of the most frequent accusations are that his rotations are poor, he doesn't make good adjustments, and he gets carried by his high-end talent. His most glaring weakness, though, has been exposed at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Kerr is not a strong enough leader.
For decades, Team USA was led on the global stage by legends from both the professional and college level, such as Phil Jackson, Mike Krzyzewski, and most recently Gregg Popovich. All three of those men possessed a certain presence that commanded respect, motivating their players to give it their all while making America feel passionate and proud to support them.
Kerr does not encompass that energy, and it's reflected in the way Team USA has played during the Olympics in 2024. They struggled against South Sudan and Germany in exhibition events, then experienced a few slow starts in their group play matchups before pulling away in the second half of those games. They came sleepwalking out of the gates once again in Thursday's semifinal, and this time it nearly bit them hard.
It was only thanks to the high-end talent of Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and others that the Americans were able to eke out the win, in a game that never should have been that close. Sure, Serbia has Nikola Jokic, arguably the best basketball player in the world, but he is complemented by only three other NBA players on his country's roster. It's clear that Team USA came into this game with the mentality that they didn't have to take their opponent seriously, and that's a direct indictment of Kerr's lack of leadership.
Players simply don't view Kerr as an authority figure. They view him as a chaperone, a buddy who is only there to enjoy some good times while traveling abroad with them. Some will say that modern coaches need to be more hands-off like Kerr because players don't respond to more old-school bench bosses, but this is simply not true. Hard-nosed leaders such as Michael Malone and Tom Thibodeau have no problems getting their players to buy in during the NBA season.
Players play hard for coaches who make them want to play hard. They don't play hard for Kerr until they absolutely have to, because he doesn't demand it from them. Even if Team USA goes on to win gold -- which they probably will due to the sheer talent advantage -- it's a bad look for America to look this lethargic on the world stage while being led by someone who does not inspire any energy.
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