All is quiet on the NBA front following the excitement of free agency, the draft, and Olympic play in Paris, but things will pick up quickly as the start of training camp looms ahead in October.
Unfortunately, the Los Angeles Lakers have struggled to bring in exciting talent on the player side though the team moving on from Darvin Ham and replacing him with JJ Redick has fans excited about the coaching side, at the very least.
And as August winds down, Los Angeles has just made another hire that's sure to inspire some optimism.
On Wednesday, the Lakers announced the hiring of Dr. Leroy Sims as their new director of player performance and health. Sims is set to "oversee" the medical care of personnel, as well as the "optimization of health and performance."
Although this isn't the most public-facing job, fans should still take note of this. Sims has a strong background in the sports medicine space, most recently serving as the senior vice president/head of medical operations for the NBA.
He was actively involved with the Bubble hosted in 2020 at Disney World, and also previously worked for both USA Track & Field and USA's Olympic basketball team.
Sims has an incredibly strong connection to the state of California as well. He earned his bachelor's, master and doctorate degrees from Stanford and served as team physician/medical director for the Golden State Warriors from 2011-14.
The fact so many high-level sports organizations have entrusted Sims to lead or contribute his expertise should not be glossed over. His clear investment in bettering athlete health also shows how strongly he cares about treatment; considering the Lakers are led by an aging LeBron James and an injury-prone big man in Anthony Davis, Sims appears to be the perfect person to run the show as LA hopes to keep both of those lynchpins on the floor this season.
