With the report from Shams Charania of ESPN that the Miami Heat’s Erik Spoelstra will be the new head coach of the USA men’s basketball team, there’s no doubt some excitement for the future of the nation’s program. As Spoelstra lays out challenges for Heat stars, he will do so now for the national team, likely to Bam Adebayo, who commented as much as he could about the news.
It’s crucial to note that the announcement of Spoelstra as Team USA’s new coach is not official yet, but it has been the expectation, as he has been a top assistant under Steve Kerr, as recently as the last Olympics, where they won the gold medal. Winning two medals with Team USA is Adebayo, who was asked at Friday’s Miami practice if the honor is the next step for Spoelstra, leading to the star big man calling him a “mad scientist.”
“We don’t know what’s going to happen with Spo,” Adebayo said, via video by X, formerly Twitter, user WadexFlash. “We just know he’s a mad scientist in the game. When he gets into his playbook, when he gets into the schemes, and when he watches the game, he’s a mad scientist. From that standpoint, progression-wise, I feel like he could have done that six years ago if he wanted to.”
Bam Adebayo on Erik Spoelstra being named USA head coach:
“We don’t know what’s going to happen with Spo. We just know he’s a mad scientist in the gym. When he gets into his playbook, his schemes…I feel like he could’ve did that 6 years ago if he wanted to.”
Spo earned it. pic.twitter.com/JEFE3UP5ns
— 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙩𝘾𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 (@WadexFlash) October 10, 2025
Heat’s Erik Spoelstra on a “gratifying” Olympics experience
A fun moment for fans was seeing Heat’s Spoelstra and Adebayo celebrate after winning the gold medal in last year’s Olympics, a sight that could be recreated in 2028. Spoelstra spoke last November about how “gratifying” an experience it was and how he was happy to see Adebayo thrive, a likely player to be on the next Olympic team.
“I was looking through some of the pictures, you know, from the trip,” Spoelstra said. “It was such an intense, gratifying core memory. It was so much fun. I’m really happy for Bam, in such a young career, he’s just stacking up a lot of winning stuff. Two gold medals at his age, two trips to the finals. It just says a lot about him and how he can impact winning, how he can fit into a team that’s about winning.”
Erik Spoelstra on Bam Adebayo and Nikola Jovic being recognized tonight for their medal wins and his experience.
“It was such an intense, gratifying, core memory…” #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/XPyQeNcYkO
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) November 4, 2024
While an announcement should be coming soon regarding Spoelstra and Team USA, he is focused on improving the Heat, with the next preseason game on Sunday against the Orlando Magic.
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