In the two seasons before the New Orleans Pelicans’ 2023-24 campaign, Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram missed a combined 199 games.
Their struggles to stay on the court factored into the Pelicans’ decision to make significant changes to their medical staff last summer. Aaron Nelson, who in 2019 was hired as vice president of player care and performance development, was given an advisory role. The Pelicans brought in Amy Atmore, a physical therapist, as director of rehabilitation.
Atmore, director of performance and sports science Daniel Bove and head athletic trainer Tom Maystadt worked with general manager Trajan Langdon to make the day-to-day medical decisions.
The results of that restructuring were positive. Williamson played in 70 games, the most in his NBA career. Ingram played in 64 games, the most games he’s played in a season since his rookie year with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2016-17. The Pelicans star duo’s availability allowed the team to win 49 regular-season games, tied for the second-most wins in franchise history.
“I think it started at the top,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “It started with (executive vice president David Griffin). It started with Trajan. Having conversations with our performance and medical about ways we could be better. That’s the goal. In order to give ourselves a chance, our guys have to be healthy on the floor.
“They did a tremendous job this season of the communication with each other, with our staff. Making sure they address situations right away. Making sure all the guys are comfortable with what we are doing on the medical and performance side. We saw the results. We were a healthier team overall.”
Green was hired as the Pelicans coach in July 2021. In his first two years on the job, Williamson and Ingram played in 12 games together.
Williamson missed all of the 2021-22 season with a broken right foot. A right hamstring injury knocked him out for the final 53 games of the 2022-23 season.
Ingram missed 27 games in 2021-22 with an assortment of injuries. He was sidelined for 37 games in 2022-23, 29 of which were the result of a left toe injury. Ingram kicked the back of a Memphis Grizzlies player’s foot in November 2022. The Pelicans labeled the injury as a left toe contusion and said Ingram was day-to-day. Ingram missed 29 consecutive games, a stretch in which New Orleans squandered its strong start to the season.
In October, Langdon said the Pelicans previously didn’t have a physical therapist on staff. Players told management they were interested in working with someone who fit that description.
“We didn’t have a (physical therapist) before,” Langdon said. “I think that was one thing that a lot of the players questioned at the end of the year, especially with the amount of injuries that we had. ‘Should we have somebody on our staff that could really manage that and oversee that and direct it?’ That’s going to be her (Atmore’s) responsibility.”
Williamson did not participate in the playoffs after he tweaked his left hamstring in the Pelicans’ play-in tournament game against the Lakers on April 16. It was an unfortunate ending to a season in which Williamson showed growth.
“He’s a competitor,” Green said. “That’s what we love about him. He’s a competitor. He loves to be challenged. He wants to step on the floor and be the best he can be. He definitely showed major steps in the right direction in doing that this year.”
Williamson and Ingram played in more than 1,000 minutes together across 55 games in 2023-24. Green finally was able to get an extended look at how his team performed with his two most talented players on the court.
It was necessary data to collect as the team heads into an offseason where it has to decide whether to give Ingram a contract extension or explore moving him.
