Toronto Raptors
The 2022-2023 season may have been the last hoorah for the remaining members of the Toronto Raptors’ 2019 title team. After a 41-41 season head coach Nick Nurse was let go and point guard Fred VanVleet left via free agency. In the end, only Chris Boucher, OG Anunoby, and Pasacal Siakam remain from the team that brought the franchise its only championship.
The medical team also experienced changes as Scott McCullough, long-time head athletic trainer, left in the offseason to start his own private sports medicine consulting group. The injury totals in McCullough’s final year were noticeably higher than usual, largely in part to a toe injury for Otto Porter Jr. The 67 games Porter lost recovering from his 2nd toe dislocation were the biggest single season injury since Jorge Garbajosa’s ankle surgery in 2007.
Rayhan Malik, former assistant athletic trainer and head athletic trainer for the Raptors 905, was promoted to the lead role and will enter his first season at the top with minimal injury concerns. Christian Koloko remains sidelined with a lingering respiratory illness, but the key members of the team’s projected rotation are ready to contribute and begin a new era in Raptors basketball.
[…] in the NBA, successfully building on the momentum generated during last year’s playoff run. The success of the team’s medical staff is a major reason for the team’s ascension up the Eastern Conference standings. Now the value of […]
[…] While the Pacers and Thunder have shown signs of improvement, the same can’t be said for the Lakers. The team has already lost three players to season-ending injuries, insuring a high injury total for the third straight season. Veteran point guard Steve Nash was ruled out for the year before the season even started and promising rookie Julius Randle fractured his leg in his professional debut. Xavier Henry joined the list when he ruptured his Achilles in practice. All three injuries were difficult to prevent but it’s worth wondering where the team would be if they had retained Alex McKechnie. McKechnie spent eight seasons as the team’s athletic performance coordinator and was lauded for his work with preventative care and movement integration. The Lakers opted not to renew his contract in the summer of 2011 and the team has since been decimated by injury. McKechnie has subsequently taken over as the Director of Sports Science for the Raptors and helped turn their medical staff into one of the most successful in the league. […]
[…] for this season, but the Raptors only missed 68 games due to injury in total last season, the lowest total in the league. This season, by this obscure metric that combines games missed and […]
[…] salary dollars, continuing a trend of good health for the organization. Entering the season the Raptors had ranked as a top-five overall medical staff and sustained that success despite the team opting to draft OG Anunoby, a talented rookie who […]