Where is Mike Krzyzewski? Why the former Duke and Olympic legend isn’t coaching Team USA in Paris

For most of his 47 years coaching on the sidelines and drawing Xs and Os on a clipboard, there hasn’t been a coach who has won at the level of Mike Krzyzewski.

His resume from his 42nd season of Duke basketball proves it: 1,202 career wins, five national championships, 15 ACC Tournament titles, 13 Final Four appearances and three Naismith College Coach of the Year awards.

The Basketball Hall of Famer’s success as a coach didn’t stop at the college level. It also extended to the international level, with Team USA Basketball — a decision made by Jerry Colangelo that was seen as perhaps a bit unorthodox at the time of his hiring in 2005.

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It is a sport that is now seen as the foundation and catalyst for the United States to refine its winning identity after the disappointment of the 2004 Athens Olympics, in which the U.S. finished with a disappointing bronze medal.

Entering the 2024 Paris Olympics, USA Basketball looks to continue its pursuit of history — and its dominance on the Olympic stage — with a fifth consecutive gold medal and 20th overall at the Summer Games. It’s a feat, and pattern in a sense, that was started by Krzyzewski.

With that, let’s revisit Krzyzewski’s tenure at the helm of USA Basketball and the national team, including his track record and medals won at the Olympics:

Who is the coach of the USA basketball team at the 2024 Paris Olympics?

Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr will lead Team USA to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Kerr was named head coach of USA Basketball in 2021, replacing San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich. Prior to being named the United States’ head sidelines coach, Kerr served as one of Popovich’s assistant coaches at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Why isn’t Mike Krzyzewki the Olympics coach?

Krzyzewski, who was hired by Colangelo in 2005, concluded his tenure as head coach of the USA Basketball National Team after the 2016 Rio Olympics. He was replaced by Popovich for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which would be his only time in the Olympic cycle with the USA National Team.

The Basketball Hall of Fame coach was set to end his tenure as head coach of the U.S. national basketball team after the 2012 London Olympics — where he led Team USA to gold — but returned for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

“About four years ago, I was asked about Coach K’s return, and what I said then is still true today: When something is going well, you don’t mess with it,” Colangelo said in a 2013 statement following the 2012 London Games.

He retired from coaching altogether in 2022 after leading Duke to the Final Four for the first time since winning the 2015 National Championship. Krzyzewski retired as the winningest coach in college basketball, both men’s and women’s, with 1,202 victories, but lost that feat in 2024 when former Stanford women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer surpassed him as the winningest coach in college basketball.

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Mike Krzyzewski’s Olympic History and Record

• Olympics trained: Beijing 2008 | London 2012 | Rio 2016

• Olympic record: 24-0

• USA Basketball Overall History (Olympics + FIBA ​​World Cup + Exhibitions): 75-1

Krzyzewski made his Olympic debut as head coach of the United States National Basketball Team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, known as the “Redemption Team” after the United States finished with bronze, or third place, at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

The road back to Olympic gold didn’t start out the way Krzyzewski, or USA Basketball, imagined. The United States finished with bronze at the 2006 World Championship with a team that featured LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, Chris Bosch and Carmelo Anthony.

Two years later, Krzyzewski and USA Basketball would bring in Kobe Bryant as a veteran addition to the Beijing Olympics, and as seen in the Netflix documentary “The Redeem Team,” it worked. The Los Angeles Lakers star not only fueled the team’s players, but he also helped lead the United States back to gold at the 2008 Summer Olympics, which included the highly physical and intense gold medal game against Spain and his Lakers teammate Paul Gasol.

The Beijing Olympics kicked off what was one of the most dominant campaigns in USA Basketball and basketball history, as the United States did not lose a single game after that and went on to win two more gold medals at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio Olympics.

At the 2012 London Olympics, Krzyzewski assembled one of the all-time great offenses for the U.S. National Basketball Team, as the United States averaged a 32.1-point margin in the victory in London and set the Olympic record for three-point field goals made with 129.

Here’s how USA Basketball fared at the Olympics under Krzyzewski:

Beijing 2008 – Gold Medal

• Game 1 (Group Game): United States 101, China 70

• Game 2 (Group Game): United States 97, Angola 76

• Game 3 (Group Game): United States 92, Greece 69

• Game 4 (Group Game): United States 119, Spain 82

• Game 5 (Group Game): United States 106, Germany 57

• Game 6 (Quarter-finals): United States 116, Australia 85

• Game 7 (Semi-finals): United States 101, Argentina 81

• Game 8 (Gold Medal Game): United States 118, Spain 107

London 2012 – Gold Medal

• Game 1 (Group Game): United States 98, France 71

• Game 2 (Group Game): United States 110, Tunisia 63

• Game 3 (Group Game): United States 156, Nigeria 73

• Game 4 (Group Game): United States 99, Lithuania 94

• Game 5 (Group Game): United States 126, Argentina 97

• Game 7 (Quarter-finals): United States 119, Australia 86

• Game 8 (Semi-finals): United States 109, Argentina 83

• Game 9 (Gold Medal Game): United States 107, Spain 100

Rio 2016 – Gold Medal

• Game 1 (Group Game): United States 119, China 62

• Game 2 (Group Game): United States 113, Venezuela 69

• Game 3 (Group Game): United States 98, Australia 88

• Game 4 (Group Game): United States 94, Serbia 91

• Game 5 (Group Game): United States 100, France 97

• Game 6 (Quarter-finals): United States 105, Argentina 78

• Game 7 (Semi-finals): United States 82, Spain 76

• Game 8 (Gold Medal Match): United States 96, Serbia 66

How many medals did Coach K win with Team USA at the Olympics?

In total, Krzyzewski led USA Basketball to three Olympic medals during his tenure, all gold. He is the only men’s basketball coach to have won gold at the Summer Olympics, the FIBA ​​World Cup, and an NCAA college basketball national championship title.

Team USA’s gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics put Krzyzewski in another category, as he became the first basketball coach to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals.

Krzyzewski also won gold medals at the 2007 FIBA ​​Americas Championship, 2010 FIBA ​​World Cup, and 2014 FIBA ​​World Cup during his time as head coach of the men’s national team.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Where is Mike Krzyzewski? History, records of former USA basketball coach