NBA icons, including one punched by Michael Jordan, may be unlikely secret to spoiling Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe’s party
Everyone loves a ‘Cupset’ and it doesn’t get much bigger than knocking out the biggest club of all: Real Madrid. That’s the task awaiting Real Mallorca, a club that’s only in its fourth season back in LaLiga having fallen as low as the third tier of Spanish football in 2017. Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe are the faces of a star-studded Real Madrid side standing in Mallorca’s way of a place in the Supercopa de Espana finalGetty But Mallorca, who are a surprise package in LaLiga this season, may have a trick up their sleevesGetty Mallorca may be seen as one of the lesser sides in Spain’s top flight, however, amid all the noise that constantly surrounds the Madrid clubs and Barcelona, the Balaeric Island team have been quietly and effectively going about their business. A first appearance at the Copa del Rey final since 2003 last term has been followed by an encouraging start to this season which sees them lie sixth in LaLiga. Few will give them a prayer of achieving Supercopa de Espana glory in Saudi Arabia, with a final date against Barcelona the likely outcome should Mallorca pull off a semi-final triumph against Los Blancos on 9 January. However, there’s a quiet confidence among those in the camp of Los Bermellones, and while they’re a team not typically associated with the big prizes in Spain, their ownership group know a thing or two about winning. “We have very special ownership,” Mallorca CEO Alfonso Diaz told talkSPORT.com. “They have this winning mentality, they know a lot about sports, they have been former sportsmen. “We have Andy Kohlberg who was a former tennis player, he is our main owner and president. We have Steve Nash, basketball legend and Hall of Famer. “We have Steve Kerr, nine times NBA champion, now the coach of the Golden State Warriors… “So all of them know what sports is about, they have this passion, they know that they have this long-term view and they have this winning mentality. “It’s really special to go with them day by day and every piece of advice that they are giving and the passion and the sport and the vision they have is amazing. I think that is the big part of the success of the club.” Nash became a Mallorca shareholder in 2016Getty While Kerr joined as a minority owner in August 2023Getty Alongside Kohlberg (left) and Diaz (right), the NBA legends are looking to continue stabilising Mallorca and build them upGetty Nash and Kerr boast a plethora of honours from their playing careers, while the latter is making a name for himself in the coaching game with four NBA championships in charge of Warriors. No challenge intimidates Kerr in particular, who once infamously took a punch to the face from teammate Michael Jordan during an especially feisty Chicago Bulls training session in 1995, who has even played coach of the current crop of Mallorca stars. “They [the ownership group] fully understand when you lose games, they know because they have suffered this for a time and they know that you lose more than you win,” Diaz added. “And they have this passion and they give this advice and they understand that you need time to build all this base to continue growing. “So it’s day by day, I wouldn’t say one thing is special, but it’s day by day, all the conversations, small conversations, when they come and travel to Mallorca to visit the camp, when they are with the team, with the players. “Steve Kerr came this summer and the speech he did for the players was amazing.” Mallorca have already put Real Madrid through their paces this season, earning a 1-1 draw against them in a league match in AugustGetty “[Kerr said] Every player in the team is important, that everybody has their own role in the team, no matter if you are playing or not. “It was important because in the case of Steve Kerr, it happened to him. He was not in the starting five and he was with Michael Jordan, close to him day by day. He told us how he was, his career and everything he faced and the difficulties he had. “And all these point of views and what he lived in the past. For the players, it’s really important to understand and to listen to someone like him.” “It’s a mix of everything we are talking now. It’s the winning mentality that the player has, the locker room culture of working hard and never giving up,” Diaz added. “Those things seem to be very common that everybody can use, but this is really happening in our club. And then having a plan, work with, we are a few people staffing on the business side, on the sport side, but young people, very talented. “And with this also winning mentality on and off the pitch. And this is what is making us try to be different. “And also working a lot on our brand, brand awareness, be international. Our island is very international. “So it’s giving us a something different in comparison with other clubs. And als
Everyone loves a ‘Cupset’ and it doesn’t get much bigger than knocking out the biggest club of all: Real Madrid.
That’s the task awaiting Real Mallorca, a club that’s only in its fourth season back in LaLiga having fallen as low as the third tier of Spanish football in 2017.
Mallorca may be seen as one of the lesser sides in Spain’s top flight, however, amid all the noise that constantly surrounds the Madrid clubs and Barcelona, the Balaeric Island team have been quietly and effectively going about their business.
A first appearance at the Copa del Rey final since 2003 last term has been followed by an encouraging start to this season which sees them lie sixth in LaLiga.
Few will give them a prayer of achieving Supercopa de Espana glory in Saudi Arabia, with a final date against Barcelona the likely outcome should Mallorca pull off a semi-final triumph against Los Blancos on 9 January.
However, there’s a quiet confidence among those in the camp of Los Bermellones, and while they’re a team not typically associated with the big prizes in Spain, their ownership group know a thing or two about winning.
“We have very special ownership,” Mallorca CEO Alfonso Diaz told talkSPORT.com.
“They have this winning mentality, they know a lot about sports, they have been former sportsmen.
“We have Andy Kohlberg who was a former tennis player, he is our main owner and president. We have Steve Nash, basketball legend and Hall of Famer.
“We have Steve Kerr, nine times NBA champion, now the coach of the Golden State Warriors…
“So all of them know what sports is about, they have this passion, they know that they have this long-term view and they have this winning mentality.
“It’s really special to go with them day by day and every piece of advice that they are giving and the passion and the sport and the vision they have is amazing. I think that is the big part of the success of the club.”
Nash and Kerr boast a plethora of honours from their playing careers, while the latter is making a name for himself in the coaching game with four NBA championships in charge of Warriors.
No challenge intimidates Kerr in particular, who once infamously took a punch to the face from teammate Michael Jordan during an especially feisty Chicago Bulls training session in 1995, who has even played coach of the current crop of Mallorca stars.
“They [the ownership group] fully understand when you lose games, they know because they have suffered this for a time and they know that you lose more than you win,” Diaz added.
“And they have this passion and they give this advice and they understand that you need time to build all this base to continue growing.
“So it’s day by day, I wouldn’t say one thing is special, but it’s day by day, all the conversations, small conversations, when they come and travel to Mallorca to visit the camp, when they are with the team, with the players.
“Steve Kerr came this summer and the speech he did for the players was amazing.”
“[Kerr said] Every player in the team is important, that everybody has their own role in the team, no matter if you are playing or not.
“It was important because in the case of Steve Kerr, it happened to him. He was not in the starting five and he was with Michael Jordan, close to him day by day. He told us how he was, his career and everything he faced and the difficulties he had.
“And all these point of views and what he lived in the past. For the players, it’s really important to understand and to listen to someone like him.”
“It’s a mix of everything we are talking now. It’s the winning mentality that the player has, the locker room culture of working hard and never giving up,” Diaz added.
“Those things seem to be very common that everybody can use, but this is really happening in our club. And then having a plan, work with, we are a few people staffing on the business side, on the sport side, but young people, very talented.
“And with this also winning mentality on and off the pitch. And this is what is making us try to be different.
“And also working a lot on our brand, brand awareness, be international. Our island is very international.
“So it’s giving us a something different in comparison with other clubs. And also the way we approach to our sponsors, to our fan base when we renovate the stadium, the different way of thinking when we renovate the stadium.
“So trying to find new revenue streams. So all these things make us, I think, a little bit different and make us, well, be there in La Liga and try to be a different club in La Liga also.”
