alt=Ryan McDonaldSALT LAKE CITY — As the Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder became in some respects the center of the coronavirus pandemic on the night of March 11 when Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus, the two teams’ training staffs played a key role in handling the immediate response as the entire Jazz traveling party was tested for COVID-19 and then had to return to Salt Lake City.
For their efforts on a night that saw an incredible amount of uncertainty, the two staffs on Thursday were named co-recipients of the 2019-20 Joe O’Toole/David Craig Athletic Training Staff of the Year Award, which is nominated and voted on by all members of the National Basketball Athletic Trainers Association.
The Jazz’s staff includes vice president of performance health care Mike Elliott, head athletic trainer Eric Waters, director of performance Erik Phillips, director of performance science Barnett Frank and performance coordinator Jordan Harding.
O’Toole was the longtime head athletic trainer for the Atlanta Hawks, and Craig held the same position with the Indiana Pacers.
Elsewhere in NBA news on Thursday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that on a call with team general managers, league commissioner Adam Silver said that a board of governors meeting scheduled for Friday will not include a formal vote on a plan to return to action.