Inside the downfall of Sydney Kings’ head coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah

There was a part of Mahmoud Abdelfattah’s firing that seemed an inevitability from the midway point of the 2023-24 NBL season.

It was November, and the Sydney Kings had just picked up two straight wins – over the New Zealand Breakers, then the Brisbane Bullets – both of which were unconvincing, filled with some worrying indicators. These Kings developed a knack for giving up significant leads, with a defence that didn’t hold; a volatility that would then haunt them for the remainder of the season, and ultimately lead to Abdelfattah’s downfall.

After that win over the Bullets, in Round 7, the Kings never won back-to-back games again. A loss to Melbourne United the following game would lead into a FIBA break, where cracks began to emerge.

It was that November FIBA window when the team had its first players-only meeting, sources told ESPN. The theme of the meeting, sources said: let’s do…