Q&A: JAMAHL MOSLEY

Q&A

Undrafted by the NBA out of college, Jamahl Mosley traveled the world playing professional basketball. But his mother’s cancer diagnosis and subsequent death in 2005 sent him on a trek that eventually led him to becoming, at 42, the Orlando Magic head coach.

After your college career at the University of Colorado, the NBA didn’t draft you, so you played in other leagues around the world. Tell us about that.

I first played two years in Australia, then a year in Spain, then South Korea. I also briefly played in Mexico and Finland. But when my mother got sick with multiple myeloma, I needed to decide whether I was going to continue to play overseas or stay stateside and be closer to family and friends. The latter became the priority.

INTERVIEWED BY PETER KERASOTIS

What was that experience like, traveling the world playing basketball?

I love to travel. I love to explore. I love to learn about different cultures, about different people. It was a great journey to explore all those things that I really enjoy and get paid to play basketball on top of it. The experience opened my eyes to so many things. You don’t even have to speak the language to understand how many things you have in common. No matter the place or culture, people want the same thing. They want to enjoy their family, they want to enjoy their friends, they want to go have a good time, and they want to be around good people. I took that from every place I went.

What were some of your favorite dishes in your travels?

They have a great Little Italy section in Melbourne, Australia. I would go there and eat chicken parmesan until I couldn’t see, and fettuccine Alfredo too. I also ate a ton of lamb there. In Spain, I fell in love with the salads, the unbelievable salads. They were incredible. In Mexico, the meats are just different. I love the carne asada there. I also like how they use real cheese versus queso on everything. It’s a different taste, and I love that version of Mexican food.

You ended your playing career to be with your mom. How did that change your life?

That was the crossroads of life, deciding what was most important. My mother was an amazing woman, a teacher, a philanthropist, she wrote a book, did social work, and she was a big dreamer. Her dream for me was that I teach and help people become better versions of themselves. As I got into doing that, into coaching, it made the most sense. Everything fell into place. It was a blessing. Even in the sadness it was a blessing.

I understand that’s when you went back to Colorado and became an unpaid intern for the Denver Nuggets?

For two years I was an unpaid intern. George Karl (the thenNuggets head coach) gave me some money out of his pocket in order to sustain me. I also had put some money away from playing. It wasn’t enough, but I was living with one of my roommates from college. I’d drive 45 minutes to the Pepsi Center and try to figure out a way to earn my way into the NBA. Whatever they needed me to do, I did. Mostly I learned player development, what it looked like and how it should be.

What did you think the ultimate destination was going to be? Becoming an NBA head coach?

Honestly, no. When you start you want to be the best version, and I still believe this to this day, you just want to be the best version of yourself every single day. Whatever role you’re in, just dominate that role. For me, it was starting in player development, then in video, then advanced scouting, whatever it was I was doing, I wanted to be the best I could be in that role. Eventually, I became an assistant coach and it was, okay, I just want to be the best assistant coach. Then I got a couple of interviews for head coaching jobs, and people were saying I was really good, and that this is where things were heading. Only then did I put that in the forefront of my mind a little bit. But for me it’s always been about serving to help people get better.

There are only 30 of these jobs in the NBA, so when one is offered to you at 42 years old, you’re obviously going to take it. But what specifically about the Orlando Magic job appealed to you?

The organization is about the right things. The family atmosphere is real. When I talk about my goals and what I want to be, it lined up with their goals. It also lined up with what my mother represented and what my family represents. Everything the Magic organization represents is about the culture of making people better. So it’s been an easy transition for me. It matches with who I’ve been in my life and what I want to be on and off the court.

What style of play can fans expect to see under your leadership?

A relentless style of play. We’re going to get after it night in and night out. You’re going to see guys competing with a joy and passion for the game every night. We’re also going to give everybody an opportunity to make each other better.

You have three kids under eight years old. How did you convince them to leave Dallas, where you were an assistant coach with the Mavericks, and move to Orlando?

When I got the job offer, the first person I told was my wife, and then we told our kids. The immediate reaction was tears. But in the same breath when we told them we were leaving Texas and going to Orlando, we said, “There’s Disney World.” We told them that now they get to live next to Mickey and Minnie. That was the selling point—Disney World.

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