Jaron Pierre smiled as he glanced over at Jamahl Mosley reclined in a chair getting his beard trimmed at the Washington Academy of Barbering & Arts in New Orleans East.
Pierre, drafted by the New Orleans Pelicans in June, was born and raised in this city.
So he knows what it means for his hometown to have his head coach spending three hours of his Tuesday afternoon doing what he was doing.
“Coach Mosley is a real one,” Pierre said. “It just tells you that he wants to be involved in the community. You can tell it’s something he’s been doing his whole life.”
Mosley was one of the last people to sit in one of the barber chairs Tuesday.
The first 2 ½ hours was for 30 local school-aged kids. They received free haircuts, free book bags and free words of encouragement as they get set to return to school. The day included everything from Mosley playing UNO with the kids to Mosley just handing out life lessons.
Mosley is committed to being involved in more than just what goes on inside the Smoothie King Center during the NBA season. What happens outside the building is important to him, too. He talked about in his introductory press conference in May.
“One of the biggest things that I believe in is the community,” Mosley said that day. “How to be more involved, how to change lives, not just on the basketball court, but off the court. We’re on this court for a short period of time, but the legacy that we leave is more than the court.”
This was the first of what will be many community service events for Mosley. He was just as active the past five seasons in Orlando when he was head coach of the Magic. But Mosley makes it clear that this work isn’t about him. In fact, he would have preferred no cameras around Tuesday.
“This has nothing to do with me,” Mosley said. “It has everything to do with what we are doing as an organization to be in this community and give back.”
It didn’t take long for Pierre to appreciate his new coach. Pierre has already invited Mosley and some of the coaching staff to his grandmother’s house for some good ole home cooking.
“New Orleans is a different place,” Pierre said. “We don’t accept a lot of people from outside or people that aren’t from here. For us to welcome him with open arms and for him to take me under his wings and take me to these events brings more and more love to him. By the time the season starts, he will be a fan favorite for everybody down here. I’m pushing it.”
Inevitably, the only thing that will win the fans over is winning games. But Tuesday, Mosley earned his first W in New Orleans. It didn’t happen on a basketball court, but instead in a barber school on the fourth floor of the Executive Plaza building in the East. Rebecca “Ro” Washington, who opened this barber school 10 years ago, was beaming with pride.
“Having Coach Mosley come here and sponsor haircuts is about so much more than getting a fresh haircut,” Washington said. “It’s an opportunity to teach our students how to not only give back, but it also builds confidence and creates connections. It’s all about serving the community and sometimes simply making someone feel good about themselves. He helped shine light on the East.”
Mosley’s goal is to impact the entire city.
“This is going to be about us reaching out and trying to touch everywhere,” he said. “From what I’ve read and looked at, it (the East) does get overlooked. I think it’s so important to try to build this community back up. It’s all of us getting involved and all of us doing it together. As an organization, we want to do that.”
As Mosley continues to get settled into his new hometown, he is constantly learning what makes the city tick. He’s absorbing as much information as he can. He’s been spotted on the sideline watching the Saints practice at training camp. He admires what he’s seen from Saints’ head coach Kellen Moore, who has brought some of his players to the Pelicans’ facility to hoop. But the biggest inspiration Mosley got came last Saturday when he watched Saints’ legend Drew Brees give his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction speech.
“It gave me goose bumps and brought tears to my eyes,” Mosley said.
It also gave him a better sense of what type of place New Orleans is. Mosley watched Brees’ speech three times.
“It was not only the passion of his words, but also the passion in this city,” Mosley said. “All you could hear was the love he has for this city and how much the city poured into him. And that’s what it’s about for us. How much can we pour back into this city and give to this city and represent the right way. The only way you do that is if you’re out in the community. That’s what we have to continue to do.”
This isn’t just something Mosley wants his team to do. He knows it’s something they need to do.
“We are so blessed to be in the situation that we’re in as coaches and players,” Mosley said. “So we have to be able to support the people that support us.”
Mosley will preach his message of giving back to his team. Washington will preach the same message to her team of 12 aspiring barbers who were busy honing their skills Tuesday. She knows that eventually, those barbers will own their own businesses, filled with barber shop talk. And like all barber shops, sports will be a hot topic. The Pelicans, no doubt, will be discussed. The 30 kids who received haircuts and the 12 barbers that delivered those cuts will surely remember the three hours spent with Mosley and the lessons learned.
“This remind me that success isn’t only measured by how much you can make,” Washington said. “Sometimes success is measured by how much you are willing to give.”