Sydney's New Shining Light

Monday, June 26, 2023

“I’m one of the most energetic, positive guys that you’ll ever be around.”

Photo: Clutch Fans

“I’m one of the most energetic, positive guys that you’ll ever be around.”

With that, NBL fans know what they're about to see under new Sydney Kings’ head coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah.

It's only been days since Abdelfattah's appointment, but already seems prominent to all that the former NBA assistant coach will shine a new light on the Kings in the upcoming season.

Abdelfattah joins Sydney off the back of an NBA season with the Houston Rockets in an assistant coaching role.

The first ever Muslim to be named head coach of an NBL team, Abdelfattah’s humble mindset stems from his respected religious beliefs, as he gave insight into who he is – and will be – as a head coach.

“The biggest thing for me of who I am today, and I tell everybody, coaching is what I do and not who I am,” Abdelfattah told Liam Santamaria on The Huddle Podcast.

“Being who I am, I’m a Muslim first. I’m a husband, brother second, and then I’m a basketball coach.

“Being Muslim has helped me become a better individual in society, making sure I treat everybody with respect. I never treat people based on what’s in their bank account or based on their title.”

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Abdelfattah was the first Muslim to be named head coach of an NBA or NBA G-League when he took the leading role of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers - the G-League affiliate of the Houston Rockets.

The Palestinian-American coach has made a positive first impression on the NBL, and is carrying his life motto into his new role.

“You can change somebody’s life with a good morning, religiously it’s a big thing for me. Bringing a smile to somebody’s face, you get rewarded, it’s a good deed,” Abdelfattah said.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">How did the past two <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SydneyKings</a> coaches help the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL</a> champions land their new boss? <a href="https://twitter.com/mattlogue7?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mattlogue7</a> reports: <a href="https://t.co/h4vSDUg72I">https://t.co/h4vSDUg72I</a> <a href="https://t.co/NUlEEGZwG6">pic.twitter.com/NUlEEGZwG6</a></p>— CODE Basketball (@codebballau) <a href="https://twitter.com/codebballau/status/1671412228468408321?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

In talks with Sydney players, Abdelfattah has scoped the win/loss mindset of the Kings and hopes to bring a new perspective to the club when things get tough.

“I just got off the phone with Angus Glover, we were talking about how he handles losses, and how do the other guys,” he said.

“I said, ‘the biggest thing in life, is exactly that, never too high never too low’. If we lose a game and you go sulk in it for 24 hours, how guys are able to put that behind them, put that extra work in, and they’ll have that step ahead of you.

“In five months down the road, if we’ve lost the same amount of games, that one person who handles losses just like the wins.”

The Kings’ first game of NBL24 is on Saturday, September 30 against the Illawarra Hawks.