Bickerstaff, Daigneault, Few Named Team USA Assistant Coaches

Bickerstaff, Daigneault, Few Named Team USA Assistant CoachesThe three assistants were selected by USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill.

“This is a huge step in terms of putting together the leadership team,” Hill said, per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. “One of the really neat parts is watching these great minds work together, collaborate, problem solve and figure out this journey, which is not as easy as everyone might think. With Mark, with J.B. and with Mark Few, we’ve got talented people who happen to be good people as well. And so, I’m beyond thrilled.”

ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Wednesday that the three veteran coaches were expected to be named assistants under head coach Erik Spoelstra, who was named the top coach for the men’s national team last October, having replaced Steve Kerr.

Bickerstaff has helped lead a dramatic turnaround in Detroit, which had the worst record in the league (14-68) in the season before he was hired. Over the past two years with the 47-year-old at the helm, the Pistons have gone 44-38 and 60-22, making the playoffs on each occasion.

Bickerstaff also serves as president of the National Basketball Coaches Association, having replaced longtime president Rick Carlisle at the end of December.

Daigneault, 41, has been Oklahoma City’s head coach since 2020. After guiding the club through a rebuild in his first three seasons, the Thunder have won 57, 68 and 64 games over the past three years, including winning the championship in 2025. He was named Coach of the Year for the 2023/24 season.

Few, who has led Bulldogs to a pair of NCAA championship games and will be inducted into the Hall of Fame next month, is a carryover from previous national team cycle, when the Americans won a bronze medal at the 2023 World Cup and a gold at the 2024 Olympics — he was an assistant under Kerr alongside Spoelstra and Tyronn Lue.