The Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue will be forgoing his summer vacation to try and help Team USA add another gold medal to its trophy room. The USA Basketball announced earlier this week that Lue joined its coaching staff ahead of the 2023 World Cup and will remain in his role through the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Lue joins Miami Heat’s Erik Spoelstra and Gonzaga’s Mark Few as assistants who will serve under Team USA’s head coach Steve Kerr. He will replace Phoenix Suns’ Monty Williams, who was forced to leave his duties due to “family obligation.”
“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.”
Team USA is entering the 2023 World Cup, which will be held in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia in the summer, motivated to redeem itself after a poor performance in the last tournament. At FIBA World Cup 2019 in China, Team USA was eliminated in the quarter-finals and finished seventh.
Tyronn Lue started his coaching career as an assistant with the Los Angeles Clippers and the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was named the Cavs’ head coach midway through 2015-16 following the firing of David Blatt, and led the franchise to its first NBA championship in the same season.
Lue would go on to make two more trips to the NBA Finals before being fired by Cleveland after a 0-6 start in 2018-19. He returned to coaching the following season as an assistant with the Clippers before taking on the head coaching job with the LA team after the departure of Doc Rivers.
