Pistons assistant Kalamian gets National Team coaching job

Steve Kerr is not the only NBA coach who is taking over a country’s national basketball team this year. Detroit Pistons assistant Rex Kalamian was recently named the head coach for Armenia’s national squad.

While he is in his first season as an assistant coach with the Pistons, Rex Kalamian is hardly a newcomer to the NBA. This is his 28th year on the bench of an NBA team, with Detroit his  seventh different team (he had two separate stops with Sacramento and the Los Angeles Clippers).

How long has Kalamian been in the NBA? Well, in his first year, as an assistant for the Clippers,  he had to face a Detroit team led by Grant Hill and Joe Dumars (FYI, the Pistons won both games.)

But all of his time has been as an assistant. While a respected coach, particularly on the defensive end, when the boss gets the ax, the new guy usually brings in their own coaching staff, but Kalamian is well-thought of enough to always land another job.

Among his previous stops was Toronto at a time coach Dwane Casey was in charge. When Sean Sweeney, who handled Detroit’s defense, went to Dallas, Kalamian left the Kings this off-season to re-join Casey.

Like many, hard-working NBA assistants, Kalamian has toiled in relative obscurity. But that has certainly changed the past couple of months.

FIrst, coach Casey missed some games due to personal reasons, and then being in the NBA health & safety protocols. Kalamian was acting head coach in Casey’s absence.

It was Kalamian striding the sidelines in what is arguably Detroit’s biggest win of the season, a 126-116 win over the Utah Jazz.

After the game, guard Cade Cunningham talked about how pleased the team was to get Kalamian, after all these years,  his first win being in charge (h/t Detroit News):

"“Yeah, it was a celebration. I’m super happy for him. I’m glad we got to do that for him,” said rookie Cade Cunningham, who had a career-best 29 points. “He means a lot to this team, and he brings a lot of energy for us. He has so much basketball knowledge, so to be able to give him his first win meant a lot to us too.”"

Now, Kalamian gets his own team to coach, and goes from clipboard-carrying assistant to head coach on the international stage.

Kalamian goes from Detroit Pistons assistant to Armenia national coach

On January 20, it was announced that Kalamian had been named the head coach for the national team of Armenia. He will continue his current job with the Pistons, and coach the Armenian team in the off-season.

Both of Kalamian’s parents are of Armenian descent. His grandmother came to the United States seeking freedom during the time of Armenian genocide (read your history books about that, not good). 

Armenia is a country of almost three million set in the Caucasus mountains. it was a part of the former Soviet Union. While the Soviets were good in basketball, Kalamian will have some work to do.

The Armenian national men’s basketball team is currently ranked 93rd in the world in the FIBA rankings. The national team was founded in 1991 and is part of the FIBA Europe section.

The team has done well in international competitions. They won the European Championship for Small Countries in 2016. Then, in 2018, reached the second round of the pre-qualifiers for the EuroBasket tournament, but then pulled out for financial reasons.

Kalamian will make his international debut June 28, as Armenia will again play in the European Championship for Small Countries. One of his top players is expected to be A.J. Hess, a 6-foot-7 forward who plays for the Wisconsin Herd in the G-League.

Kalamian is not exactly stepping into the same situation as Kerr with Team USA, but to have the opportunity to coach the home country of your ancestors has to be a thrill for him. After many years, it is nice to see someone, like Kalamian, be noticed for his accomplishments.