BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE – Eswatini’s Jama Mahlalela continues to hoist the country’s flag high as he rubbed shoulders with the United States of America President, Joe Biden.
He is currently the second liSwati to meet USA presidents; in 2018 he had the privilege of rubbing shoulders with the first-ever black USA President Barack Obama.
Jama Mahlalela got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet President Biden, who welcomed Mahlalela’s Golden State Warriors to the White House on Tuesday to celebrate their 2022 NBA championship, marking their return to the building for the first time since a high-profile clash with former President Donald Trump.
“Today, the Golden State Warriors are known as one of the most successful franchises in basketball and all of sport. Four NBA titles, and six finals in the last eight seasons. That is not bad, man. A stat line of a dynasty, but the last couple of years are pretty tough,” Biden said in remarks from the East Room.
People that have had a chance to meet the President in the country, include Prime Minister (PM) Cleopas Sipho Dlamini and his wife Lomvula Dlamini. The dup had been part of an African delegation invited to the white house for dinner by Bidden.
Worth noting is that in 2018, Mahlalela opted to meet with former President Barack Obama instead of making the traditional White House stop. On August 13, 2021, the Warriors hired Mahlalela as an assistant coach and director of player development.
When he shared a picture of himself and his team, he mentioned that he was happy to have seen and met with the president.
In Mahlalela’s first season, the Warriors won the 2022 NBA finals against the Boston Celtics in six games. Mahlalela ran many youth basketball organizations while he was with the Raptors and also had some basketball clinics in Eswatini.
He has also worked for NBA. Mahlalela played basketball for the UBC Thunderbirds. He played for five years, served as a team captain, and helped the team win a Canada West title in 2003. He graduated in 2004 with a Bachelor of Kinesiology Degree from UBC and the Jama Mahlalela Award was created in his honor.
Mahlalela started with the Toronto Raptors in 2006 as a member of the community development staff, leading the Raptors Basketball Academy and various clinics throughout Canada. He was named director of basketball operations for NBA Asia in 2009 and oversaw the league’s clinics, youth programmes, and elite-level development from his base in Hong Kong. The coach is also son to the late Swaziland Railway Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Gideon Mahlalela, he is a liSwati-Canadian basketball coach, currently an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association. Previously, he has served as the head coach of Raptors 905 of the NBA G League and an assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors.
