Duke head basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski missed a Duke game at the start of February against Georgia Tech because he was spending time in a cardiac wing of a North Carolina hospital. He hasn’t missed a game since, and Duke has played the incident down, so no one has talked about it.
One person has taken notice of the problem: USA Basketball’s decision maker Jerry Colangelo. He recently spoke to NBA.com’s Scott Howard-Cooper and said that he is considering potential options as a plan B for this summer.
“USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo, who admits he is concerned about the health of Mike Krzyzewski, said he has privately been considering replacements in case Krzyzewski is unable to coach the United States in the Olympics in August, telling NBA TV, “Certainly in the back of my mind I’m thinking about what ifs.”
Stressing it is too early to be thinking seriously about implementing a backup plan for the Rio de Janeiro Games, Colangelo conceded he has been formulating ideas. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has already been announced as Krzyzewski’s successor with Team USA, but it is unknown whether Colangelo would ask Popovich to start this summer or choose from among the current Team USA staff of Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim, former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau or Thunder assistant Monty Williams.
“I’m always concerned about people I love, and I love Coach K,” Colangelo told NBA TV. “You’ve heard my expression, ‘We’re joined at the hip and have been ever since we joined together back in ’05.’ I am concerned about his health. I told him on the phone (recently) nothing is more important than his health. Not Duke basketball. Not USA Basketball. I hope and I pray that he can take care of his situations, whatever they may be, and that he’s healthy and ready to go.”
Coach K is definitely willing to coach another USA Men’s team to another Olympic Gold Medal, and if he says he is ready to do it, Colangelo isn’t going to tell him no. The possibility remains that Coach K won’t be available to coach this summers Olympics, so Colangelo needs to be prepared.
No choice would be a bad choice for Colangelo if Coach K steps down, but Greg Popovich is very likely the best option. They have already announced that he will replace Coach K when he steps down, and he could step in with the same assistants and be ready right away to take the reigns of the team. Tom Thibodeau is also highly respected by NBA players, and the guys would be glad to play for him this summer as well. The only problem is whether or not he will need to focus on a new NBA job this summer.
Monty Williams and Jim Boeheim would also be great candidates to coach the team, because this USA team will have a good chance of taking home gold this summer no matter what. Spain has been extremely talented recently, but Pau Gasol and the rest of their core team is aging (besides Ricky Rubio and Serge Ibaka), and Marc Gasol will be out due to injury. Out of every country in the world, there are other good teams, but the USA will be clear favorites.
