Warriors’ Khalid Robinson journeys to Singapore, teaches basketball’s next generation

Walking through the streets of a nation he had never visited before, the hustle and bustle of Singapore still felt familiar to Warriors assistant coach Khalid Robinson.

As he embarked on his afternoon strolls through busy summertime streets, the Harlem, New York native found similarities between the dense island nation and his hometown that went beyond population density. 

“It’s a real melting pot of culture,” Robinson told the Bay Area News Group earlier this summer, “and you can experience different cultures and cuisines, from Chinese, Japanese, Korea, Thai, and local food from Singapore.”

Once one of NYC’s top high school hoopers, Robinson, now 34, spends his days teaching the game he loves to basketball players from across the globe. 

The former Fordham point guard began his coaching career as a Warriors intern in 2016, worked as a special assistant in the organization from 2018 until 2024 and recently completed his first season as an assistant coach on Steve Kerr’s staff. 

Following the Warriors’ second-round playoff exit, he spent a week in Singapore with Basketball Without Borders, helping train and educate 60 teenage Asian hoopers from June 19-22. 

Created in 2001 to promote goodwill between youngsters from the former Yugoslavia during the breakup of that nation, Basketball Without Borders has become a pipeline of international talent to the NBA. 

Reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and former winner Joel Embiid are among the program’s most notable alumni, but dozens of other professionals – including Warriors rookie Alex Toohey of Australia – have come through the system.

Now, Robinson, who grew up in cosmopolitan New York with a natural curiosity when it came to other cultures, found a way to connect with kids from across Asia. 

“You have kids from Singapore, Australia, Korea, China and they’re getting exposed to these different cultures and having conversations together, and they’re learning the game through this universal language of basketball,” Robinson said. “Not every kid spoke English, and they understood basketball.” 

By the end of the camp, they all understood Robinson’s love of the small details. 

“I was telling kids, that’s the game right now,” Robinson said. “The more that they can make quick decisions and read a defense, the better off they’ll be as players.”

Every dribble? Purposeful. Each step? Decisive. That rotation? Timely. Everything else? Important. 

His players, including Nevada 4-A player of the year Fa’anaetaua Puloka, reciprocated with effort, BWB’s camp director Patrick Hunt noticed. 

“He did an excellent job of bringing the kids along, and he was a very patient teacher and reinforced the principles and fundamentals with the kids in a positive manner,” Hunt said in a recent phone call.  

Robinson ended up leading one of the teams – named the Valkyries, coincidentally – to the camp championship, following in the footsteps of Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who did the same in 2015. 

But the kids were not the only ones benefiting and having fun at the camp. 

The Warriors assistant was also able to learn from fellow assistant coaches such as Denver’s Jared Dudley, who helped train campgoers on defensive fundamentals. 

“All week, I was just picking his brain on certain things,” said Robinson, who added that he also learned from Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer Ticha Penicheiro. 

Those were lessons Robinson carried into the next part of his summer after returning stateside. The coach worked with the Warriors’ Summer League team in Las Vegas, and will spend the rest of his summer working out with individual players in the Bay Area. 

Lainn Wilson, the Santa Cruz G League head coach who also piloted the Summer League squad, sees Robinson as a future star in the coaching world. 

“He’s definitely someone who is going to be able to run his own team at some point,” Wilson said. 

When that happens, Robinson can draw on the lessons he taught – and learned – in Singapore. But in the meantime, the Warriors assistant is already looking forward to the start of another championship push in the Bay Area.

“I’m back on another journey in the NBA,” Robinson said.