Atlanta Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce could not hide his excitement about his upcoming stint with the USA men's basketball team for the 2019 FIBA World Cup.

Pierce will be one of the assistant coaches of the USA men's basketball team, which will be handled by San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich. The 43-year-old earned the opportunity after Nate McMillan begged off due to scheduling conflicts. Pierce will join fellow assistants Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors and Jay Wright of Villanova.

In an interview with Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, Pierce said that he is already a winner because of the opportunity to work with three champion coaches. The California native expects that he will become a better coach after his stint with Popovich, Kerr, and Wright in China this summer.

“There are 10 championships in that room,” Pierce said. “I'll be sitting with them for 40 days and having conversations about basketball with 10 championships. I already won. I’m good. I’m a better coach after 40 meetings, 40 interactions, 40 dinners, 40 film sessions.”

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USA will be the favorites to win in the 2019 FIBA World Cup, which will run from August 31 to September 15 in China.

The men's national squad was drawn into Group E of the competition, where they will be facing Turkey, Czech Republic, and Japan in the preliminary round.