Lakers add six new staff members

The Los Angeles Lakers announced they had added a few more members to their staff on Wednesday. The hiring of Jennifer Swanson as Head Physical Therapist had already been reported, but the organization has also added Stacey Robinson and Sean Light to their training staff as Massage Therapist and Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach, respectively.

The Lakers’ training staff has undergone an overhaul this offseason, with franchise stalwart Gary Vitti retiring to step into a consulting role with the team. Los Angeles also chose not to retain trainer Judy Seto, who was most famous for her tireless work keeping Kobe Bryant healthy.

It wasn’t just the training staff receiving an infusion of new talent. The Lakers also added Lorena Martin (Director of Sports Performance Analytics) and Jae Kim (Basketball Data Analyst) to their analytics department. Martin will report to Lakers Assistant General Manager Glenn Carraro, and Kim will work under Lakers’ Director of Basketball Analytics, Yuju Lee.

The Lakers have faced criticism for their analytics department (or lack therof) over the last several years, but the team promoted Lee last season and has continued to make steady additions to expand their usage of advanced stats. This latest addition continues to push back against the narrative that the Lakers are comfortable being behind the times in analytics.

Finally, the Lakers added Joshua Wright to the Lakers’ already crowded coaching staff as an assistant to head coach Luke Walton. The move is a big jump for Wright, who spent last season volunteering with the Wake Forest men’s basketball program after earning a degree in kinesiology from Georgetown, where he played on the football team.

These types of fringe additions aren’t some type of huge splash to make the team an instant championship contender, but they do continue the Lakers’ slow and steady path towards upgrading their organization in multiple areas.

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