The shot callers for USA men’s basketball flew to Miami in September to take out to dinner the man they decided should coach the Americans at the next FIBA World Cup and 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

And in his heart of hearts, Erik Spoelstra, that guy, had to know this is why they were there — to make the ask. Spoelstra, 54, a 17-year veteran coach of the Miami Heat and two-time NBA champion, has seen too much to think that anything other than an offer, or at least a serious discussion of interest, to be the next USA men’s coach was coming from Grant Hill and Sean Ford, the two men seated opposite him at Maple & Ash steakhouse. Because “no” typically comes from a phone call.

The restaurant is both swanky and relaxed. Located three blocks from the Kaseya Center downtown, where the Heat play, there is caviar on the menu ($415 for two ounces of royal ossetra) and an “I don’t give a (expletive)” special listed at the top — a combo of shellfish, steak, seafood and seasonal dishes for $225 per person. The wine list is so extensive, there are seven curators listed on the title page. On page 24, there is a $48,000 bottle of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, 2009.

Ford is the longtime day-to-day operator of the U.S. men’s program. To dine out with him is to be treated like a special guest: He pre-orders the food and the wine, so that his guests can truly relax and unwind, or, if the occasion calls for it, talk business.

When Ford and Hill — whom you either know as one of the greatest college players ever, a multi-time NBA All-Star, color commentator for the NCAA Final Four or, for the purposes of this discussion, managing director for the men’s national team (which means he works with Ford to pick the team) — brought Spoelstra to dinner last month, they had a statement and a question for him not long after they sat down:

We would like to name you as the next coach for the USA Basketball (men’s) national team, and, do you accept?

“No hesitation, without a doubt,” Spoelstra characterized his answer to the two men in a subsequent interview with The Athletic. “I mean, I had goosebumps. It still was surreal and still was a surprise. Even going to dinner, it’s such an incredible honor. I’m absolutely humbled by it, honored by it.

“You know it’s a dream to be able to have an opportunity to represent your country. And as the head coach, you understand the responsibility and the expectations and the legacy of the program. And that’s why it feels like such an honor, you know, to be selected as the head coach.”

On Tuesday, Spoelstra was formally named the next coach for the U.S. men’s team at the World Cup and Olympics, succeeding Steve Kerr. Spoelstra, whose hiring was approved by the USA Basketball board of directors, coached the U.S. Select team to help the American team of NBA stars get ready for the Tokyo Olympics and was then an assistant under Kerr for the 2023 World Cup and 2024 Olympics, where the U.S. won its fifth consecutive gold medal in Paris.

“I have known Erik Spoelstra for the better part of two decades and have gotten to know him better throughout our time with USA Basketball,” Hill said in a news release. “Spo is not only an outstanding coach but a great colleague, friend and father, all of which make him the perfect choice to continue the USA Basketball men’s national team coaching legacy through 2028.”

Spoelstra said his assistant coaches have not yet been selected, nor have any decisions been made about any minicamps for prospective U.S. players in the summer of 2026, ahead of the FIBA World Cup in Qatar in 2027.

When he spoke with The Athletic recently, Spoelstra mentioned all of the power players who brought him along in the U.S. program: from Gregg Popovich, Jerry Colangelo and Ford inviting him to coach the Select Team in 2021, to Kerr’s selection of him as an assistant, to Hill, with whom he’s been working since 2023. The U.S. went undefeated last summer, including in its preseason games and all of its Olympic games in Paris. But in 2023, the Americans lost three of their last four games and finished fourth at the World Cup. Overall, the U.S. has won 17 Olympic golds and five world championships but none of the latter since 2014.

“I think being part of the World Cup really helped us and prepared us for the Olympics,” Spoelstra said. “When you’re playing an international game and the FIBA rules, you have to accept and embrace the fact that it’s a different game. It’s still a round ball and four lines, but it’s a shorter game. It’s officiated differently. The 3-point line is different, illegal defense obviously is not a part of the game, and a single elimination. So it moves fast, and it can be harrowing, not only for the USA but every team in there. It’s unpredictable what can happen.”

Spoelstra is known in NBA circles as an excellent tactician and in-game coach on both sides of the ball, and as a hard-driving, demanding, accountability maven who has served as curator to Pat Riley’s “Heat culture” in Miami for nearly two decades. His 757 regular-season wins are the third most among active coaches, trailing only Doc Rivers and Rick Carlisle. Spoelstra guided Miami to six NBA Finals overall and was an assistant under Riley when the Heat won in 2006; Spoelstra is the longest tenured coach with one team among all active NBA coaches.

Asked if he would be either bringing some of “Heat culture” with him to USA Basketball, or how else might the American team look like the Heat with him as coach, Spoelstra quickly countered: “I don’t know about that — USAB has its own culture.”

“That’s what’s such a privilege, to be a part of the history and the illustrious legacy of USAB,” Spoelstra said. “What I love about it is it’s so much different than the NBA. Everybody plays a different role. I love it when the players just raise their hand and say, I want to be a part of it, and I’m willing to do whatever. I’m going to sacrifice. I’m wanting to play a different role. I’m not going to be the No. 1 option. I’m willing to be a role player. Give up six weeks of an offseason because everybody still views it the same way. It is such an honor to be a part of it, to represent your country and to be part of a life and basketball experience.”

Heat center Bam Adebayo made sure to give his coach Erik Spoelstra his due after Spoelstra was appointed to head coach of Team USA. (Michael Reaves / Getty Images)

One of those players to whom he was referring is his star center in Miami, two-time Olympic gold medalist Bam Adebayo, who came off the bench for the U.S. in Paris. Spoelstra said that last week, when news broke that he would be named the Americans’ next coach, he was about to begin practice when Adebayo interrupted him. “Whoa, whoa, hold up coach, we have an announcement, come on, let’s not just brush this under the rug,” Adebayo said to Spoelstra, in front of the rest of the Heat players, something Spoelstra said was a “cool moment.”

There is, of course, eons of time before the next U.S. Olympic team is picked (which should have mostly veterans, whereas the World Cup roster is expected to have younger, perhaps rising NBA stars), but Spoelstra said Adebayo “has always said he’s all in, even before I was named coach.”

So, perhaps the next American Olympic team will look a little like the Heat. All the more reason for Ford, Hill and Spoelstra to get another table at Maple & Ash, a few blocks from Miami’s arena.