Pep Guardiola is becoming a talking point in the United States amid links to the USMNT job.

Mauricio Pochettino remains in charge at the time of writing but he is now being mooted to leave his role and join English team, Manchester United, who sacked their coach on Thursday.

Amid speculation about Pochettino’s future, Guardiola is being talked about as a potential successor. For those unfamiliar, Pep is a former player who has cemented himself as one of the best soccer coaches in Europe, dominating with FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City.

But while he has spent most of his life around soccer, he also has a soft spot for the NBA.

As shared by Marc Stein back in August 2025, Guardiola previously said: “The NBA has always been important in my life.”

Stein also shared that when speaking about the NBA, the manager ‘named Stephen Curry, Luka Doncic and LeBron James as his favourite modern players’ of the post-Michael Jordan era.

All three of those stars are still going strong in the 2026/27 season, with Doncic currently having the highest average (39.3) in the division.

Curry is second on that list right now (30.6) and while LeBron may not be competing with them on the points front, his Philadelphia 76ers are battling at the top end of the Eastern Conference. They have a 9-3 record before they play the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night.