The Los Angeles Lakers are in the market to hire a new athletic head coach after injuries devastated their 2020-21 season.
Nina Hsieh, promoted to head coach two years ago, did not renew her contract, sources told ESPN.
Hsieh worked for the franchise for more than a decade, starting as the head athletic coach in charge of the health and wellness program for the Lakers’ G League affiliate, then working as an assistant coach for the Lakers before assuming the coaching role. major athletic in August. 2019.
She became the first woman to be the leading athletic coach on a championship team in the history of major American professional sports when the Lakers won the NBA bubble title in Orlando, Florida, in October.
However, the Lakers’ replay fell short with a first-round elimination against the Phoenix Suns, with Anthony Davis (groin), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (left knee) and Alex Caruso (ankle) all injured in the series. This after a regular season in which Lebron James he missed 26 of the Lakers’ past 30 games with a sprained right ankle, Davis missed 36 games and the Los Angeles roster missed 201 games overall, according to Spotrac data.
It is the second time in the past three years that the Lakers have parted ways with their head athletic coach. Los Angeles let Marco Nunez go in April 2019 after three years at the helm following a season in which Lakers players lost 212 games through injuries.
Before Nunez, Gary Vitti held the position for more than 30 years.
More changes are expected as the team is in the process of restructuring its approach to player health, sources told ESPN.
ESPN’s Baxter Holmes contributed to this report.