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Head coach of the United States’ men’s national basketball team, Mike Krzyzewski, has announced that next year’s Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil will be his last in this capacity. Krzyzewski, affectionately called “Coach K”, let the American national team to two Olympic gold medals, at the 2008 Beijing Games and the 2012 London Games. He was also the head coach of the American team that won the 2010 and 2014 FIBA World Championship.
A report from abcnews.com states that Krzyzewski told ESPN that the current season was “definitely” his last with the men’s national team. He added, “"I think it's time to move ahead. During the next season there will be a number of decisions made about the future of USA Basketball with Rio [the roster] and coaching.”
Coach K also said that his successor will be decided next year, in the build-up to the Olympics: “There has to be a succession...a planned succession with really good people so we can keep the continuity of the program going.”
Krzyzewski was head coach of college basketball powerhouse Duke University’s basketball team and led them to five NCAA (National Collegiate Athletics Association) titles, including this year’s trophy.
His win-loss record with the national team is an astounding 75-1, since being associated with the outfit since 2005. Krzyzewski had the following to say about his future plans: “Hopefully we can finish things up well with Rio and I would move onto something else with USA Basketball,'' Krzyzewski said. "But I think we're ready as an organization to do that, and I'm excited about the future because [of] what we've done over the last 10 years.”
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer said it was too soon to decide who would be part of the American national team for the Olympics, but said that he expected a lot of the old faces to feature in the side: “I think most of the players would like to do it, if not all who participated in our minicamp [in Las Vegas last summer]. It's just a matter of a few things -- contract, family and health. Those are the three things. If everything was OK, you'd see a great representation. For a few of them, it's their last go-round. The commitment a few of these guys have made - all of them have made - is incredible. I think one of the great stories of USA Basketball the last decade is the commitment of our great players.”
Krzyzewski said that irrespective of a collegiate or NBA background, international experience would be something they would look for in his successor:”I think it would be good if somebody had experience in international basketball.”
