Assemble a world-class title-winning basketball team in under six weeks.
That is the challenge before every USA men’s basketball coach looking to maintain America’s dominance on the world stage.
Under Mike Krzyzewski and Gregg Popovich, two coaching titans both with military backgrounds and now in their 70s, Team USA has mostly stayed true to that course.
Together the pair have combined to win four Olympics and two FIBA World Cup titles and forged a legacy any leader would be proud of.
But now, at the dawn of the 2023 FIBA World Cup, it is the turn of another: Steve Kerr.
Appointed as head coach to lead the national team from 2022-24 following a stint as USA assistant coach (2017-21), the 57-year-old steps into the role well aware of the big shoes he has to fill and the even bigger expectations he has to meet.
That much was made clear when his tenure was announced:
“Coaching the USA Men’s National Team comes with great responsibility,” Kerr said in a statement in 2021. “Our goal, of course, is to win and make our country proud. We will work hard to do so.”
Those lofty targets and the assumption they will be delivered contribute to a unique pressure surrounding the head coach job for USA basketball.
But Kerr with his own unique journey will be more than ready to meet its demands.
- Exclusive - Steve Kerr: Why I'm 'excited' to coach Team USA at Paris 2024
- Basketball, FIBA World Cup 2023: Full schedule and how to watch live
- NBA players at 2023 FIBA World Cup – Roster tracker
- FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023: A direct path to Paris 2024
- FIBA men's basketball world ranking: Complete list
Steve Kerr: Playing and coaching history
Before Kerr became a coach he was first a player.
Not especially recruited, Kerr played college basketball at the University of Arizona (1983-88) where he made an early impression on national selectors.
The young guard got the call-up to compete in the 1986 FIBA World Championships, and it would wind up being a bittersweet trip for Kerr.
Though winning, and becoming the last American amateur team to do so on the world stage, the Kerr suffered a heavy injury to his knee in the semi-final forcing him to miss the final and a whole year of college ball.
Selected in the second round of the 1988 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns, Kerr’s NBA career was one that was long and illustrious.
After stints at the Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic, he found a home at the Chicago Bulls around the same time as Michael Jordan.
There he won the first three (1996-1998) of his five NBA Championships as a player. The second two would come with the San Antonio Spurs in 1999 and on his return there in 2003.
Kerr announced his retirement after the 2003 NBA Finals and to this day, remains the only NBA player to win four straight NBA titles after 1969.
He also closed his career as one of the most accurate three-point shooters of all time, stepping away as the league's all-time leader in single-season three-point shooting percentage (.524 in 1994–95).
Following a brief turn in broadcasting, Kerr then joined the executive office of the Phoenix Suns as a general manager - overseeing the team’s operations including signings, trades and scouting.
The role ultimately set him up for the head coach position at the Golden State Warriors, which he adopted in 2014 and still holds today.
Just as with his glittering playing career, Kerr struck gold straight away with the Warriors guiding them to the first of four titles in his tenure in 2015. That was then followed by back-to-back titles in 2017-2018 and then another title win in 2022.
Under his watch as coach of the Warriors, he is credited as having fundamentally changed the art of the modern game.
Using the three-point shooting talents of Steph Curry, a power he himself once harnessed, Kerr has transformed the San Francisco-based outfit into an NBA Finals powerhouse and there is an overwhelming feeling there is still more to come.
Steve Kerr: Building on an established legacy
A prolific winner on the court and on the sidelines orchestrating the action, it was hardly surprising that Kerr was eventually courted by Popovich in 2018 to join USA Basketball as an assistant coach.
During his time in the supporting role, Kerr got to experience the highs and lows of the USA Basketball jersey.
The lows amounted to a seventh-place finish at the 2019 FIBA World Cup heralded as ‘dismal' and the highs included a third-straight Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020 in 2021.
With the retirement of Popovich after the USA’s triumph in Japan, Kerr was the natural successor, and now the new head coach is drawing on his years of experience to help pick up where the US last left off.
At the forefront of his mind heading into Manila is ensuring his team doesn't make the same mistakes as last time. After 2019, Kerr noted that team selection was a crucial piece that had perhaps been underestimated.
Continuity, experience and chemistry are all things NBA coaches can draw while building a winning team. For FIBA and the Olympics, there isn’t the time.
Creating a group that can form a team in a short period of time is an essential factor. So too, is having individuals who can, and want to, pass the ball around to deliver for everyone.
Paying their respects to the rest of the world is another thing Kerr has put at the heart of his campaign.
With losses in recent years to France and Australia - teams packed with NBA-playing stars - it isn’t enough, Kerr believes, simply to rely on American talent.
For this World Cup Kerr revealed he has deployed his assistant coaches to scout future opponents. Mark Few, he shared, has already been doing homework on New Zealand who the USA will play in their opener.
So far, it’s been promising for Kerr.
The US went into the 2023 World Cup unbeaten in all five of their tuneup games.
The 12-strong squad, made up of players 28 years old and younger, have shown improvement game-on-game and beaten some notable challengers, including defending champions Spain and dark horses Germany.
The famed international basketball storyline of ‘USA vs the World’ is now taking centre stage.
For Kerr, none of that will be anything new: pressure, criticism and expectation are all things he has come to embrace on his journey.
He knows it won't be easy but he also knows it's going to make for another enticing chapter in an already storied career.