The path to the NBA continues to make its way through Edinburg and the RGV Vipers — for players and coaches alike.
Vipers head coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah became the latest to transition from the G League to the NBA on Tuesday as the Houston Rockets named Abdelfattah as an assistant coach for the 2022-23 season
Abdelfattah guided the Vipers to a league-best fourth G League title and becomes the fifth head coach in Vipers franchise history to be called up to an NBA team. Others to get the call were Joseph Blair, Matt Brase, Nick Nurse and Chris Finch. Nurse was the first head coach to win a G League title and an NBA championship, doing so with the Toronto Raptors.
“For me, it means another part of a successful year. I take joy in the organization’s success and his success,” RGV Vipers General Manager Travis Stockbridge said. “Part of our job is to develop coaches and staff for the future.
“For Mahmoud, it means continued credit to the work he’s done and his path moving up. He learned a lot through rough a first year and the success he’s had and what he’s learned he will now take to that next level.”
Abdelfattah led the Vipers to the number one spot in the Western Conference with a 24-10 record. Under his direction, the team led the league in points per game (124.5), free throws made (12.4), offensive rebounds (16.5) and total rebounds (51.4).
Additionally, Abdelfattah was the recipient of the Dennis Johnson Trophy as the 2021-22 NBA G League Coach of the Year. He’s the second head coach in Rio Grande Valley history to earn that honor.
“I think it’s confidence,” Stockbridge said about Abdelfattah’s growth while with the Vipers. “He’s always confident, but he’s been experiencing and seeing different situations. This game is fast in every area, whatever it is, things like building relationships — he did a great job of that, of all of it.”
During the 2020-21 season, Abdelfattah clinched his first playoff berth as Vipers head coach after finishing the season with a 9-6 record in the NBA G League bubble. In 2019, Abdelfattah became RGV’s eighth head coach and the first Palestinian-American head coach in both G League and NBA history.
Abdelfattah served as assistant under Blair during the 2018-19 championship season. During his time as assistant coach, the Vipers finished with a 34-16 record, ranking first in the Western Conference and Southwest Division. RGV also led in three different league categories; points (128.4), rebounds (56.2) and 3-pointers made per game. Originally, Abdelfattah joined the Vipers staff in 2017-18 as an operations assistant under former head coach Brase.
“He’s not getting this opportunity because of tradition, but because he earned it,” Stockbridge said. “But at the same time, it’s a testament to what the Vipers organization is about, moving coaches through the ranks, the same way we try to develop players. We’ve had a special run of coaches.
“It’s another coach going on to bigger and better things. He’s leaving the Vipers in a really good place. It’s awesome for the Vipers and it’s awesome for Mahmoud.
In addition to working on the staff in RGV, Abdelfattah has also served as an assistant coach for the Jordanian National team in 2018. Prior to RGV, Abdelfattah worked as an assistant coach at his alma mater St. Cloud State for four seasons, where he oversaw the player development program and led the recruiting efforts for the Huskies. Abdelfattah began his coaching career as a student assistant coach at St. Cloud State in 2010.
He was also an assistant coach at Perspective Charter School throughout 2011-13. Abdelfattah additionally coached with Team NLP, 17-U AAU team since the summer of 2009 where his 17-U team won the National AAU Tournament in Orlando, Florida with an 8-0 record.
Abdelfattah played basketball two years at St. Cloud where his team advanced to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight. Furthermore, he also played at Wilbur Wright College in Chicago where he was named the team’s most valuable player, region MVP, first team All-Region, second team All-American, All-Star game nominee and participant and All-Conference first team in 2008.
