Past Experiences Define Kelly

“Experience is a great teacher”. There are definitely worse life lessons you could be taking into a new role – and it’s the exact lesson incoming South East Melbourne Phoenix head coach Mike Kelly is taking into his new position ahead of NBL24.

After two seasons as an assistant at the Perth Wildcats and previous to that three seasons with the Cairns Taipans, which included being named as the competition’s Coach of the Year in NBL20, Kelly is back in a head-coaching role. 

It follows a glittering playing career in the NBL that saw him win two Defensive Player of the Year awards, a championship and Grand Final MVP across a trophy-laden two-season stint with South East Melbourne.

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Following his initial three-season head coaching stint with the Taipans, Kelly feels he’s ready to take the reins again.

“I hope I’ve learned from my time in Cairns, because there are things I could have done better,” he told NBL Media. “Some of that was on the floor and some of that was dealing with people – both players and administration.

“I think you just learn from all the things that have happened to you and because of you.

“I don’t know how much different I’ll be, but hopefully I’ll be a little smarter in different situations.”

Kelly was named as the NBL's Coach of the Year after leading Cairns to a third-place finish in NBL20.

The journey from assistant to head coach is a path that has not only been tread by countless people within the basketball industry over the years, but it’s a path that many more seek.

To do your time as an assistant coach, earn a head coaching job, and then revert back to not being the major shot-caller has the potential to damage egos and bruise internal self-belief.

Although Kelly is thankful to once again be at the head of the proverbial snake, he says he still values his time in Perth working under Scott Morrison and John Rillie.

“Since I’ve been a player, I’ve just been part of a team,” he reflected. “In coaching – whether it was being an assistant coach or the head coach – I’ve really just tried to, I guess, play my role.

“Being an assistant coach to Scott Morrison and John Rillie meant being an assistant to two guys who are really good at what they do, and good guys to work for. I enjoyed it, but it is a little different.

“You’re telling the head coach what you think would work best instead of just saying ‘hey, lets do this’ and initiating something right away.

“It’s a little change of mindset, but I’m still just lucky to be around basketball and to get to be a part of these groups. Perth was special that way, and I think it’s going to be the same at South East Melbourne.

“I’m just one of the guys here – I just get to make the decision more often.”

Since he arrived in the NBL in 1993, the competition has been lucky to be able to count Kelly amongst its ranks – whether that be in a playing or a coaching capacity – for 26 of the past 30 years, across nine different teams.

He’s maintained a mindset of constant self-improvement since his days as a player. After all, you would struggle to reach the heights he has both on and off the court if you weren’t constantly vying to get better.

Everything seems to have fallen into place in regards to Kelly’s opportunity at the Phoenix. A legend of South East Melbourne basketball returning to the region – albeit to a differently named and branded side with its own history – is almost poetic.

Kelly as a member of the Magic in 1996.

However, Kelly says being a head coach once again wasn’t necessarily the be all, end all in regards to his career.

“I think in everything I’ve always done I’ve just wanted to do everything at the highest level I could, and it’s the same with coaching.

“It didn’t necessarily have to end up as being a head coach, bit I’ve always tried to keep learning, and even learn from those experiences in Cairns.

“If opportunities were afforded – whether that was here in the NBL, which I love and was hoping for, or was somewhere else in the world – I was always going to be open to that.”

Kelly’s first game in charge of the Phoenix will come against Melbourne United in the opening game of the NBL24 season on Thursday, September 28.