Shareef Abdur-Rahim Responds to Brother Amir's Shocking Death

Former Cal star Shareef was the older brother of South Florida basketball coach Amir Abdur-Rahim, who had been a candidate for the Cal opening two years ago. Amir died at the age of 43

Amir Abdur-Rahim / Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

Former Cal and NBA basketball star Shareef Abdur-Rahim responded on Friday via Twitter to Thurday's unexpected death of his younger brother Amir Abdur-Rahim, a rising coaching star who was the head coach at the University of South Florida.

Amir was 43 and died of complications of a medical procedure. He had been a candidate for the Cal head coaching vacancy that was eventually filled by Mark Madsen.

Shareef posted his short but sweet twitter message at about 4 a.m. Friday.

From God, we come, and to God, we must all return. On behalf of my family, I want to express our gratitude to all who have reached out regarding Amir's passing. Please remember our family in your prayers. As @sunsetAMIR would say, to God be the Glory.

— Shareef Abdur-Rahim (@ShareefAbdur_R) October 25, 2024

Amir Adur-Rahim became a coaching star when he led Kennesaw State to historic heights. The Owls had never had a winning season until Amir guided them to a 26-9 season and an NCAA tournament berth in the 2023 season. Kennesaw State nearly upset third-seeded Xavier in the first round of the NCAA tournament, holding a 13-point lead with less than 10 minutes remaining before falling 72-67.

That made Amir an attractive coach for high-level basketball schools, and Cal officials interviewed him for the Bears' head coaching vacancy after Mark Fox was fired following the 2022-23 season.

Amir's candidacy at Cal brought optimism to the Golden Bears' community. However, Amir chose to take the job at South Florida instead, and he made an immediate impact there, guiding the Bulls to their best season ever. South Florida had had four consecutive losing seasons before it went 25-8 in Amir Abdur-Rahim's first season n 2023-24.

He was on the fast track to a magnificent coaching career, when he unexpectedly died of complications of a medical procedure.

We are heartbroken over the passing of Coach Abdur-Rahim.

A tremendous man & leader with an infectious personality that was a shining light to all he encountered.

Our thoughts & prayers are with his family, friends and everyone that he left a lasting impact on. pic.twitter.com/h353f3FNno

— USF Men's Basketball (@USFMBB) October 24, 2024

Shareef Abdur-Rahim is 47, four years older than Amir, and they were among the 13 children born to William Abdur-Rahim. Both Shareef and Amir grew up in Marietta, Georgia, but Shareef opted to attend Cal, where he was the Pac-10 player of the year as a freshman in 1995-96, his only season at Cal.

He went on to a successful 12-year NBA career, and he was a member of the United States' gold-medal-winning Olympic team in 2000.

After he retired from basketball, Shareef returned to Cal, graduating with a degree in sociology in 2012 with a 3.8 GPA.

He is currently the president of the NBA's G League.

Amir Abdur-Rahim posted this optimistic message just three weeks ago:

Bulls Nation!!! WE Did it! Let’s Finish TheJob ThisTEAmM Is HardAt work They’re Earning and Deserve ASoldout YC every game day! @soflorodeo Y’all Ready? 🤘🏾💚 https://t.co/BHsbFHCuMf

— Amir Abdur-Rahim (@sunsetAMIR) October 6, 2024

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