Steve Kerr has emerged as the favorite to replace Gregg Popovich as head coach of USA Basketball, sources tell Marc Stein of Substack.

Erik Spoelstra is another natural candidate but he lacks prior experience on the national team coaching staff, which is believed to be a prerequisite for the job.

Kerr was an assistant under Popovich on the Olympic team that overcame a loss to France in its opener in Tokyo to win the gold.

The decision on who to hire as head coach is the first one for Grant Hill since replacing Jerry Colangelo.