When Mahmoud Abdelfattah lost his mother at 19 he began to pay more attention to religion. It steered him into coaching, to Mecca, and to becoming the first Muslim and Palestinian to lead an NBA or G-League team.
Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.″Have you ever been to the States?” When Mahmoud Abdelfattah asks this question, he most definitely does not mean New York.“New York.” The corners of his mouth curl up slightly, and he emits a “pfft” as if to spit in the general direction of New York. Abdelfattah is from Chicago - the real deal.
A lot has changed at the Kings since the latest grand final win in March, with last season’s 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.
“Not me, because the day I get this job you know who I’m going to be. And it’s not like ‘wait, hold on, we didn’t talk about that’ - 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’s for the other two. It’s never going to flip-flop. And that’s put me in the position to be here and given me my work ethic.
“We had some talks about it, but truly not much,” he says. “That’s one thing for me: I want to do a better job of understanding where I’ve come from. I know who I am - I’m Palestinian. But do I really know the geography? Do I know the history? I don’t. I know the lifestyle because I visited 25 years ago, but it’s been a very long time.”
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.
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 “once in a while”. It was his mother’s death from a heart attack when he was 19 which fundamentally altered his attitude towards religion.Credit:“The older you get, it’s not easier, but it’s more understanding,” he says.
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