LAS VEGAS — In many ways, it’s fitting that the Golden State Warriors brought in Jama Mahlalela to sit in place of head coach Steve Kerr in the NBA’s summer league in the past 10 last days in Las Vegas.
Mahlalela brings several similar qualities to Kerr – his international roots, his ability to connect with players from diverse backgrounds, his engaging manner and quiet intensity. Second-year guard Moses Moody noticed the parallels, absolutely.
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“He’s just genuine,” Moody said. “As a player you can feel that – you can feel that when someone is real and someone is trying to trick you. That’s the similarity between Jama and Coach Kerr.
“They are both the person they are, and that’s how they coach. A certain level of respect comes with that.
Mahlalela, 42, is rising rapidly in NBA coaching circles, to the point that some league insiders consider him on the right track to one day become a head coach. One source even said that Mahlalela could be “the next Steve Kerr”.
For now, he will join Kerr at the front of the bench. The Warriors are promoting Mahlalela and Kenny Atkinson next season, with Atkinson (a former Brooklyn Nets head coach) replacing Mike Brown as primary assistant and Mahlalela essentially becoming the No. 2 assistant.
This marks a rapid rise since the Warriors hired Mahlalela in the summer of 2021, to become their director of player development. He excelled in that role last season, working with Andrew Wiggins, Gary Payton II and rookies Moody and Jonathan Kuminga.
Mahlalela will retain many of those duties as the Warriors look to repeat as NBA champions. First, he took over as head coach of Golden State’s summer league team in Las Vegas, a five-game stint that ended Sunday.
The liability was familiar in some ways – Mahlalela, a longtime Raptors assistant, was head coach of the Toronto G League branch from 2018 to 2020 – but in other ways it represented a step forward. important. Kerr and the Warriors front office clearly see Mahlalela as a vital part of their coaching staff.
He relished the chance to lead the team in Vegas, in part because it allowed him to work alongside young coaches who were just starting out in the league.
“For me to be able to help other coaches grow is great,” Mahlalela said. “And I think being a head coach and helping to shape players and grow their careers is something that I really enjoy. Adding value to those players, whether they’re playing in Japan the next year or in the NBA, if they can be better because of what we did this summer, that means a lot to me.
The Warriors gave Mahlalela added value last season by overseeing the individual development of several players. He helped Wiggins flourish in the playoffs, Payton became a hard-hitting rotation player, and Kuminga and Moody showed their potential.
Yet the summer league mission bore a new hallmark. Mahlalela was the one leading the coaching staff, making in-game decisions, setting the tone.
He understands that the summer is mostly about grooming young players for bigger roles in the coming season, but he also radiated intensity when the Warriors found themselves in close games in the fourth quarter.
“I really enjoy coaching and being a head coach because you can mold your players in a way that just doesn’t work from the assistant coach’s seat,” Mahlalela said. “You impact their playing time, how they feel every day and hopefully create a culture that energizes players and leads to victory.”
Mahlalela acknowledged that his global background likely helps him connect with players from diverse backgrounds. He was born in Swaziland, a small country in southern Africa, and lived there, in neighboring Mozambique and in Toronto as a child (his mother is Canadian).
African roots offered a common bond with Kuminga, originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Kerr described Mahlalela as something of a chief of staff for the Warriors last season, connecting the team’s side projects of winning now and building for the future. That won’t change much next season, though Kuminga, Moody and center James Wiseman are expected to play bigger roles in Golden State’s rotation.
But Mahlalela will be more visible as he tries to follow in the footsteps of other Warriors assistants who landed head coaching jobs after working alongside Kerr – including Alvin Gentry, Luke Walton and, most recently, Brown ( now Sacramento head coach). Charlotte also offered her best job to Atkinson, who turned it down last month to stay in San Francisco.
“Coach Kerr has a great track record of coaching development, you can see he’s lived through the last five or six years,” Mahlalela said. “He’s such a great teacher. He is patient and caring and allows you to make mistakes, but he also encourages you to grow as a coach.
Moody was hesitant to look too far ahead, but he did approve of the possibility of Mahlalela ultimately occupying the No. 1 seat for more than a summer.
“I think he could be a really good head coach,” Moody said. “I haven’t been in the game long enough to make any educated predictions, but I think he has a bright future.”
Ron Kroichick is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: rkroichick@sfchronicle.comTwitter: @ronkroichick
