Report: Lakers fire head athletic trainer after injury-filled season
The Los Angeles Lakers are beginning to make changes ahead of next season.
According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, the Lakers’ first change is firing head athletic trainer Marco Nunez, who has been in his position since 2016.
The Lakers had major injury issues this season, and are clearly using that as a major reason for their struggles and making the training staff, Nunez especially, a fall guy for it.
The Lakers fired athletic trainer Marco Nuñez on Weds, sources told ESPN. Nuñez joined LAL as an asst trainer in 08-09 & ascended to the head position in ‘16, succeeding Gary Vitti. LAL players had missed 212 games due to injury in ‘18-19, 9th most in the NBA, per Spotrac
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) April 10, 2019
The Lakers considered firing Nunez after last season and this move fits with the emphasis they have placed on injuries. As an organization, they've decided to peg injuries as the main problem this year. They've certainly had a lot of injuries, but other factors share blame.
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) April 10, 2019
The big blow to the Lakers’ season was LeBron James’ groin injury, which he suffered on Christmas and never quite completely got over. Whether switching around the training staff even helps is hard to say, but the Lakers do want to look like they’re doing something, especially after the events of the last 24 hours may save the coaching staff.