[tps_title]LUTE OLSON, SEAN ELLIOTT & STEVE KERR[/tps_title]
[tps_header]1986 FIBA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS[/tps_header]
Lute Olson served as head coach and Sean Elliott and Steve Kerr were two of his players on the gold medal winning U.S. team at the FIBA World Championships in Spain. Kerr did not play in the championship game against the Soviet Union national team because he suffered a potential career-ending knee injury in the semifinals against Brazil. He was one of Team USA’s leaders with 14 points when his right knee buckled, tearing ligaments. Bill Wall, the executive director of the Amateur Basketball Association, said in Madrid that “there is a chance the injury could be career-ending” for Kerr. Of course, we know that Kerr not only continued to play, he was part of Arizona’s first Final Four team in 1988. He won five NBA titles as a player before coaching Golden State to an NBA title this year. Elliott, coming off his sophomore season at Arizona, averaged 4.6 points a game in Madrid. Olson is known as the last Team USA coach to lead a group of collegians to a gold medal in the highest international competition.
Team USA’s 1986 FIBA World Championship team that won the gold medal with Lute Olson (top, second from left) as head coach. Sean Elliott (sitting, second from left) and Steve Kerr (sitting, second from right) were part of the historic team, the last gold medal-winning U.S. national team comprised of only collegiate players.
(USA Basketball photo)
