{"id":293888,"date":"2023-10-06T09:24:48","date_gmt":"2023-10-06T09:24:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usasportsradar.com\/?p=293888"},"modified":"2023-10-06T09:24:48","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T09:24:48","slug":"basketball-comes-third-faith-and-family-led-kings-coach-to-sydney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usasportsradar.com\/basketball\/basketball-comes-third-faith-and-family-led-kings-coach-to-sydney\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Basketball comes third\u2019: Faith and family led Kings coach to Sydney"},"content":{"rendered":"

By <\/span>Emma Kemp<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

New Sydney Kings coach Mahmoud Abdelfatta.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>James Brickwood<\/cite><\/p>\n

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\u2033Have you ever been to the States?\u201d When Mahmoud Abdelfattah asks this question, he most definitely does not mean New York. Do not say New York, do not say New York.<\/em> \u201cNew York.\u201d The corners of his mouth curl up slightly, and he emits a \u201cpfft\u201d as if to spit in the general direction of New York. Abdelfattah is from Chicago – the real deal.<\/p>\n

He has a Spalding slung under one arm, down by his side, and is reeling off the states in which he has lived. Illinois. Minnesota. Texas. He does not get to NSW, and frankly it does not have the same ring to it anyway. \u201cAlways on the hustle,\u201d pipes up our photographer taking his picture. Abdelfattah\u2019s face lights up. \u201cMy wife says that.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

New Sydney Kings coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah at the Auburn Basketball Centre.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>James Brickwood<\/cite><\/p>\n

He has been hustling well this past decade. It was only about 10 years ago he was still teaching high-school hoops. Since then he has coached in college and the G-League, and been an NBA assistant at the Houston Rockets. Now he is head coach of the Sydney Kings, a month into the pre-season and already appearing well at home with the defending two-time NBL-winning champions he has just taken over from the departed Chase Buford. The Kings opened their season last weekend with a 96-81 win over the Illawarra Hawks.<\/p>\n

A lot has changed at the Kings since the latest grand final win in March, with last season\u2019s entire starting line-up and coach replaced. Right now, the new cohort is huddled around a courtside screen for a tactical video session. Some players, such as NBA veteran Denzel Valentine – an even more recent signing than his new coach – and the returned Jaylen Adams, stand as they watch. Others sit on the polished floor. All are being peppered with questions as if they are some of the school children Abdelfattah is qualified to teach. He ends with a \u201cgod bless\u201d.<\/p>\n

During the subsequent drills session he is animated but not given to smiling. Sharp-witted and just as quick on his feet, he commands conscientiousness. He has what one might call \u201cpresence\u201d. This all makes the fact he is 34 years old feel a bit discombobulating. It is the kind of one-sided achievement-to-youth ratio that has everybody else 34 or older wondering what we\u2019ve been doing with our lives. After a post-practice pep talk and another \u201cgod bless\u201d, he arrives at the court next door to have his photo taken.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Abdelfattah gives instructions to import Denzel Valentine during pre-season training.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>James Brickwood<\/cite><\/p>\n

Now that the real work is done, he is ready to joke around. \u201cWho\u2019s who? You gotta ask these questions – you never know, you might be the owner of the newspaper.\u201d We confirm neither of us owns the newspaper. \u201cGod has blessed us,\u201d he says. Abdelfattah is laughing this time, but his faith is infused into his identity. It is not just in name that he is the first Muslim or Palestinian head coach across the NBA, G-League and NBL; his religious values inform his leadership style and his approach to personal success.<\/p>\n

It obviously impressed Kings chief executive Chris Pongrass, part-owners Andrew Bogut and Luc Longley, and majority owner and chair Paul Smith, because he was offered the job a couple of days after interviewing. \u201cI was just myself,\u201d he says. \u201cThrough interview processes, people try to be who they are not, and they try to be the people others want them to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot me, because the day I get this job you know who I\u2019m going to be. And it\u2019s not like \u2018wait, hold on, we didn\u2019t talk about that\u2019 – they know who I am. Religion comes first. Family comes second. Basketball comes third. The time I will commit to basketball is going to be more than the other two, by far. But where my mind is, and what I care for, it\u2019s for the other two. It\u2019s never going to flip-flop. And that\u2019s put me in the position to be here and given me my work ethic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018I want to do a better job of understanding where I\u2019ve come from.\u2019<\/p>\n

Last month, during his first press conference, Abdelfattah said he had spoken with Buford about what he could expect at the club and Australia in general. A journalist asked where Buford had recommended he live, and Abdelfattah answered Bondi, which is about as original as New York. He did not mention to the gathered media that he actually lives in Olympic Park and specifically chose that location. It is just up the road from where the Kings train at the Auburn Basketball Centre and, more importantly, just up the road from the Auburn Gallipoli Mosque.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Turkish mosque is right here, it\u2019s literally right across the street,\u201d he says, pointing over his head. \u201cOn Fridays, when we have Jumu\u2019ah prayer, which is our sermon, I walk straight over from here. I\u2019m at the mosque for morning prayer at 5.20, so that dictated that for me. And then it\u2019s by a train for my wife. It\u2019s safe, and it\u2019s close to the facilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are mosques by the beach but they are smaller mosques. At this one they\u2019ve got middle school, elementary school, a home for the elderly – it\u2019s like a neighbourhood.\u201d This part of Sydney rivals most others for food. \u201cYes, yes. Oh my god, Lebanese food, oh my goodness. I tell everyone how we do it culturally. There\u2019s only one of you? Here\u2019s five dishes, try \u2019em all. Welcome.\u201d He spreads his arms, figuratively laying out the banquet for one. \u201cFood brings happiness, peace. It\u2019s conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Abdelfattah was born and raised in Chicago as the second-youngest of seven siblings – he has three sisters and three brothers. His parents both immigrated to the city from Palestine in the late 1960s, during the mass exodus from territories captured by Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had some talks about it, but truly not much,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s one thing for me: I want to do a better job of understanding where I\u2019ve come from. I know who I am – I\u2019m Palestinian. But do I really know the geography? Do I know the history? I don\u2019t. I know the lifestyle because I visited 25 years ago, but it\u2019s been a very long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Until the eighth grade he attended a private Muslim school, and then did his high-school years in the public system. It was after that, while studying at public community college Wilbur Wright, where he was an All-American, that he was recruited by St Cloud State University in Minnesota. During that time, under coach Kevin Schlagel, he realised he wasn\u2019t good enough to make the NBA.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Abdelfattah\u2019s faith is infused with his identity as a man and a basketball coach.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>James Brickwood<\/cite><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s when I realised the difference of my talent compared to the others,\u201d Abdelfattah says. \u201cPeople say they want to be an NBA or footy player since they were two years old. I am sure 99 per cent of people want to do that, but a very small per cent get there. So when I went to St Cloud State, I knew I wanted to be around coaching, because the opportunity the coach gave me to fulfil my dreams and get my school paid for – I had zero debt – I wanted to be able to help somebody fulfil their dreams and get their school paid for, be able to make a living and care for your family.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was still completing his Masters in Education Administration, to complement his Bachelor of Education, Physical Education Teaching and Coaching, so joined the coaching staff as a student-assistant. It was a baptism of fire. At 21, he was only a year older than some of the former teammates he was now coaching, and still roomed with a couple. When he was running drills he could see them pulling faces and making comments, and had to learn fast how to be a friend to everyone while staying true to his new role.<\/p>\n

After a period away, he returned to the NCAA Division II side, and from there got his professional coaching break in the G-League. With the Rio Grande Valley Vipers he won two G-League titles – one as an assistant and one as head coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo days before our first game, our head of media came up to me,\u201d Abdelfattah says. \u201cAnd he\u2019s like, \u2018Hey, you\u2019re the first Muslim and\/or Palestinian head coach in all of the NBA or G-League\u2019. And I\u2019m like, \u2018You mean forever?\u2019. He will also be the first in the NBL, and one of the first across all Australian sport.<\/p>\n

He was promoted to head coach just before the 2019-20 season and shortly after returning from Hajj, the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca where he had prayed he would get the job. After 2021-22, he was named NBA G-League coach of the year and in 2022 the Vipers\u2019 NBA affiliate Houston brought him in as an assistant.<\/p>\n

Each of these moves, towards the obvious long-term objective of an NBA head coaching gig, Abdelfattah puts down to his faith. That was not always a given. He remembers his parents praying five times a day since he was a child, but he himself participated only \u201conce in a while\u201d. It was his mother\u2019s death from a heart attack when he was 19 which fundamentally altered his attitude towards religion.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Abdelfattah with Andrew Bogut and Sydney Kings chief executive Chris Pongrass late last month.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n

\u201cThe older you get, it\u2019s not easier, but it\u2019s more understanding,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s what really changed me, just being the best individual I can be. I really realised you don\u2019t know what you have until it\u2019s gone. Losing my mum was the hardest thing, but it was probably the thing that changed my life the most for the good. From that point forward, I was more into religion and praying, and over the last 10 years it just clicked for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re here for a test. I mean, everything we do is for a test and to want to be better. It\u2019s common sense – there are rules in your job you have to progress. If you don\u2019t, you\u2019ll get fired. If you do well, you get promoted. So in life, you get rewarded at the end. For me, that\u2019s why every day is a blessing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to think about the positive and the glass half full. Things can happen good and bad, it just depends how you look at it. Sometimes you win or you lose the game. Some coaches, you can\u2019t even approach them after. I hope – and I think – you won\u2019t know whether we won or lost based on my body language or the look on my face.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abdelfattah defines his playing philosophy as up-tempo but also malleable to the idiosyncrasies of the roster.<\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, he has been asked \u201ca million times\u201d about the pressure to match the feats of Buford, who also happens to be 34. He reaches for a couple of analogies about new chapters and new pages, and then simply adds, \u201cuse whatever words you want to use\u201d to describe the team\u2019s wholesale changes.<\/p>\n

The main message is his desire \u201cto be the coach I always wanted to play for\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can either make them hate this job or make them love it,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m caring, I\u2019m genuine, I\u2019m loving, but there\u2019s also no middle ground. It\u2019s either you do it or you don\u2019t, and that\u2019s how we\u2019re going to be. Prayer is at 5.20am – you either miss it or you don\u2019t. Practice starts at this time – you\u2019re either late or you\u2019re not. One second late is the same as 50 minutes late.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the players agree to it, and we\u2019re all on the same page, we may win more than we lose. We hope we\u2019re a successful team at the end of the season. But if they\u2019re healthy, in a good place mentally and I can get the most out of them, that\u2019s all you can ask.\u201d<\/p>\n

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