Jama Mahlalela – Good Space, Good Energy and a Good Vibe = Performance
Moses Moody: Jama's been my guy. He's obviously player development so we work out. He's been my personal guy that I could talk to about anything on and off the court. And I feel like he's just a real stand-up dude that I respect enough to have those conversations with.
Jama Mahlalela: So I was born in Swaziland, which is now called Eswatini. It's a tiny country in southern Africa. I lived there for five years. And then at age five, I moved to Toronto. And so my mother's Canadian, and my father's Swazi. Here's what we got, it's called a speed practice today. Even in elementary school, I just had this passion for teaching.
I was going to be a high school teacher and teach phys ed and history, that was my career. I had my dream job lined up. And then the Toronto Raptors actually had this entry-level coordinator position in their community department. I debated it and I came to the realization that schools and classrooms will always be there, but a chance to work in the NBA will not.
So I played university basketball, so that's the starting point. So I was kind of a basketball guy. And then, when I was doing the community work for the Raptors, I was also coaching at the University of Toronto. Coach Dwane Casey is the head coach of the Toronto Raptors at that time. And he brings me into the office, and he's like, "I'm really looking for people that are energetic and like enthusiastic," and then he stops and looks at me and says, "Well, would you be interested?"
And it was a pinch-me moment, right, that an NBA head coach is now asking me to be on his coaching staff, and that's when I joined sort of the basketball side. I remember our general manager of the Toronto Raptors gave me a call and said, "The Golden State Warriors are interested in talking with you." And in short order, I was in Coach Kerr's office, and it was this incredible meeting because I think he has such a great passion for people.
And as soon as we had that first meeting, and I saw the word "Joy" on his whiteboard, I said, "I want to be here."
Steve Kerr: Jama's been an amazing addition to our staff. He's got a wealth of experience developing young players, but it goes way beyond his basketball knowledge. It's the energy that he brings every day to practice, the vibe that he sets in the building. He's a very creative coach. He comes in every day with a plan, but it's different, it's not like we're doing the same drills over and over again.
He's got a really good sense of how to connect with people, so he's a phenomenal basketball coach and wonderful human being.
Jama: So I think when you're when you're coaching these athletes, and like 82 games is a really long time, and so keeping things sort of fresh and new and energetic for the players is important. So I think our actual practices have sort of become, I don't know, just a lot more fun, I guess, like, we have a championship belt that we award every so often for different shooters.
We try and get little small-sided games happening all the time. And you got to keep people's minds fresh and keep them excited. And so if you get the people in a good space and a good energy and a good vibe, well then the performance is going to be there.
Simplifying their plan has been an important part of the journey this year. You know, like here's two or three things you need to work on to become efficient, to become, you know, a better NBA player and let's work on those. You know, I'm doing on-court player development, but I think I'm trying to help them in their entire life as well. So making sure, one, that organizationally we're all connected and we're all communicating, but really just caring about them, spending time with them. It's like the most amazing cohesion of people, each with their own diversity, each with their own experience.
It's this incredible mixture, and it was another dream come true for me to move to like a world-class organization, championship organization, and to be with like the most amazing players in the universe.
