After leading the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Vipers to the NBA G League’s 2021-22 title, head coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah earned a promotion from the G League to the Houston Rockets; he will be an assistant to Stephen Silas on the NBA parent club’s bench.
Now, with the 2022-23 season weeks from getting underway, Houston’s G League affiliate named Abdelfattah’s replacement.
The Vipers named Kevin Burleson as head coach for the 2022-23 season. Burleson becomes the ninth head coach in franchise history.
Most recently, Burleson served as the Minnesota Timberwolves head coach during the 2022 NBA summer league. In 2020, he was promoted to assistant coach of the Timberwolves. His coaching career with Minnesota began in 2019 when he was hired as a player development coach.
The Seattle native joined the Memphis Grizzlies for the 2018-2019 NBA season as an assistant coach for player development. In 2017-18, Burleson served as the associate head coach of the NBA G League team, the Iowa Wolves.
His coaching career began in 2014 when he joined the Rockets as a player development coach, a role he held from 2014-17.
Welcome to the RGV, Coach Kevin Burleson 🏀🐍#ANewEra #LightsOut pic.twitter.com/r5DHvojnj5
— RGV Vipers (@RGVVipers) September 7, 2022
In his new role, Burleson will collaborate with Houston’s front office as it develops and evaluates G League players in an environment compatible with what the Rockets are doing.
“We’re incredibly excited to have coach Burleson on board,” said Travis Stockbridge, RGV’s general manager. “He’s a terrific basketball mind with an impressive resume as both a player and a coach. Having known Kevin since the start of his coaching career, I’m proud of how far he’s come and thrilled that he’ll be taking his next step with the Vipers. I’m confident that his diverse experiences, intimate knowledge of the game, and ability to relate to people will serve him well as our next head coach, and I can’t wait to get to work with him.”
Prior to coaching, Burleson played college basketball at Minnesota and had a 10-year professional career from 2003 through 2013, including an NBA stint in 2005-06 with the Charlotte Bobcats.
With Burleson leading the way, Rio Grande Valley’s 2022-23 regular season is set to begin on Sunday, Nov. 6.
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