APReading: 2 min.
LA Clippers coach Tyronn Lue will replace Phoenix Suns’ Monty Williams on the Team USA coaching staff for this year’s World Cup and the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Williams resigned due to family commitments, US men’s national team general manager Grant Hill said Wednesday.
Lue will join Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr and fellow Miami Heat assistants Erik Spoelstra and Gonzaga’s Mark Few on the staff.
“I am truly honored to represent our country and join this great group of coaches,” Lue said. “Coaching USA Basketball has always been a dream of mine and I am honored to accept the challenge.”
The United States has yet to qualify for either the World Cup this summer or the 2024 Olympics. The Americans, who mainly use G-League players in qualifying games, before filling the roster with talent from NBA for major tournaments, they will look to clinch a World Cup berth in the sixth and final window of qualifying games for that tournament later this month.
Williams, who served on the coaching staff for teams that won gold at the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, was introduced in December 2021 as a USA Basketball staff member for this cycle.
“This has been a difficult decision, but given the timing and the demands of the commitment, it is the best option for me and my family,” Williams said. “I am incredibly grateful to Grant Hill and Coach Kerr, both for giving me the opportunity to be an assistant coach and for understanding my decision.”
If the Americans qualify for the World Cup (a win in either of their two qualifying games this month in Uruguay and in Brazil will clinch the spot and there are other ways in as well), then they will play the Philippines in the tournament that begins on August 25th. The Americans could then qualify for the Paris Games based on their World Cup result.
The United States will try to win a fifth straight Olympic gold in Paris next year.
