Mahmoud Abdelfattah is a Palestinian-American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach who most recently served as the head coach for the

Sydney Kings The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales, and play their home games at Qudos Ba ...

of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). He became the first ever Palestinian or Muslim head coach of a

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) or

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

franchise when he served as head coach of the

Rio Grande Valley Vipers The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Edinburg, Texas, and are affiliated with the Houston Rockets. The Vipers play their home games at the Bert Ogden Arena. The Vipers have won f ...

from 2019 to 2022.

Early life

Abdelfattah was born and raised in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, to parents who had immigrated from

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

as part of the

1967 Palestinian exodus The Naksa (Arabic: النكسة, "the setback") was the displacement of around 280,000 to 325,000 Palestinians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, when the territories were captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. A number of Palestini ...

. He identifies as Palestinian and visited the territory as a child. Abdelfattah attended a private Muslim school until the eighth grade and then moved to the public system. Abdelfattah played basketball at

Wilbur Wright College Wilbur Wright College, formerly known as Wright Junior College, is a public community college in Chicago. Part of the City Colleges of Chicago system, it offers two-year associate's degrees, as well as occupational training in IT, manufacturing, ...

and was recruited to play at

St. Cloud State University St. Cloud State University (SCSU) is a public university in St. Cloud, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1869, the university is one of the largest institutions in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. In the fall of 2023, it ...

. He found his desire for coaching while at St. Cloud State when he realised that he would not be able to play in the

(NBA). He served as a student-assistant on the basketball team at the age of 21 and had his student debt covered by the school.

Coaching career

Abdelfattah began his coaching stint with Perspectives Charter Schools in 2011, serving as the assistant head coach for the team. In 2019, after spending his first season as assistant coach for the

and winning his first championship with the franchise, Abdelfattah was promoted to be the head coach of the team. Abdelfattah was named the NBA G League Coach of the Year for the 2021–22 season after leading the Vipers to a 24–10 record. The Vipers eventually would win another title. On July 3, 2022, the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

hired Abdelfattah as an assistant coach. On June 21, 2023, Abdelfattah was hired as head coach of the

of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) for the 2023–24 season. After winning seven of his first 10 games in charge, the Kings lost 13 of their remaining 19 matches, including the play-in qualifier defeat to the

New Zealand Breakers The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Bank of New Zealand, BNZ Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers are the only non-Australian side currently competing in Austral ...

, thus winning 10 of 29 games. The Kings subsequently parted ways with Abdelfattah on March 1, 2024.

Head coaching record

As of April 19, 2022 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , 2019–20 , 42, , 15, , 27, , .357 , , align="center", ''Season canceled'' , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , 2020–21 , 15, , 9, , 6, , .600 , , align="center", Lost in Quarterfinals , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , 2021–22 , 35, , 25, , 10, , .714 , , align="center", Champions , -class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan=2, Career, , 92, , , 49, , , 43, , .533, ,

Personal life

Abdelfattah is

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

. He was only lightly religious during his early years but adjusted his attitude after the death of his mother from a heart attack when he was aged 19. Abdelfattah completed

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

in 2019.

References

External links

Mahmoud Abdulfettah coaching profile at Rio Grande Valley VipersSt. Cloud State Huskies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdelfattah, Mahmoud Living people American men's basketball coaches Muslims from Illinois American people of Palestinian descent Basketball coaches from Illinois Guards (basketball) High school basketball coaches in Illinois Houston Rockets assistant coaches Rio Grande Valley Vipers coaches St. Cloud State Huskies men's basketball coaches St. Cloud State Huskies men's basketball players Sydney Kings coaches Wilbur Wright College alumni Year of birth missing (living people)