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One of the NBA's most respected and tenured trainers, Mike Abdenour enters his 26th year with the Detroit Pistons and his 29th year in the league this season. Abdenour's name has been virtually synonymous with the Pistons since he first started as the team's trainer in 1975. He worked in Detroit for 17 seasons before joining the Philadelphia 76ers in 1992. After a three-year stay in Philadelphia, Abdenour returned to the Pistons in 1995.
Mike Abdenour: Thanks a lot for showing your interest in not only myself as the Athletic Trainer for the Detroit Pistons, but for the Pistons as well. We have probably had one of the more spectacular seasons that I have ever experienced in my 29 years in the NBA.
Mike Abdenour: The coolest player I've ever had the pleasure of working with is probably Dennis Rodman. Before he fell off the side of the boat, he was really an intense guy and a wonderful person to be around. I haven't seen Worm around in a few years, but when I did see him we exchange pleasantries. Despite his appearance and all of his piercings, he's still the same old Worm.
Mike Abdenour: I don't know about the weirdest pre-game ritual, but all of the good players that I have seen come through our locker room have had a ritual of some kind. It basically boils down to having the same routine. They take their nap at the same time in the afternoon, they eat at the same time every day, they may sit in the same seat on the bus, they get their ankles taped a certain way, they get dressed in a different way or in the same way all of the time. What that allows someone to do is to generally stay focused on the task at hand, which is to play the game. And if something deviates from their routine, they get thrown off like you wouldn't believe. The guy who's probably the most routine oriented player on this roster right now is Rip Hamilton.
Mike Abdenour: I started out as a student manager and a student trainer in high school. I wasn't a great athlete, but I had a love for athletics, and I knew this was the way for me to stay around the various sports that I love. Upon finishing high school, I went on to college, and completed my degree in Physical Education and Athletics. I never had any coaching classes; I just took my heavy science classes that were required as part of the degree program. Then I was involved in a three-year internship at Wayne State to learn the science of Athletic Training. Once I finished my degree requirements, I sat for the certification examination that is offered yearly by the National Athletic Trainers Association. The last part of my senior year in college, I was able to do an internship with the Pistons, and they hired my full-time in May of 1975.
Mike Abdenour: The toughest part is balancing a family schedule and a work schedule. Something always suffers, and unfortunately my family life suffers more than my work life. That I regret, but that's part of the job.
Mike Abdenour: (laughing) I don't know. But my mustache has gone through changes. It's more salt-and-pepper as opposed to pepper.
Mike Abdenour: It was one of the more severe injuries that we've seen; but the timing of Isiah Thomas' injury during the 1988 Finals, that was probably the worst timing injury I've seen. As far as playing Game Seven in the NBA Finals and your star player can't play, that was tough.
Mike Abdenour: As far as Ben is concerned, our doctors anticipate that he'll have a full recovery and that he should be ready for the start of the NBA season. As far as Darko is concerned, he's going to have to earn minutes this year. I expect that he will definitely go out and prove that in practice every day.
Mike Abdenour: That's an interesting story. That came to being a routine - one day early in the season, he said, "Yo Abs, help me up," and with that I grabbed his hand and pulled him up. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Mike Abdenour: In the locker room at half time during Game 5 of the Finals; we were beating the Lakers and were doing pretty well. Coach Brown didn't have much to say to a team that was about to bust the door down in winning an NBA Championship. But he did say that nobody wanted to get back on an airplane to go to Los Angeles the next day, and as far as he was concerned, if we just played to our fullest abilities, there would be no doubt, in his mind, or anybody else's for that matter, what was going to happen when we came back into this locker room at the end of the game. There are a lot of funny stories you can tell about NBA players in timeout and locker room situation, but at that point in time, I was ready to bust through the wall.
Mike Abdenour: There was an opportunity for me to make a move, which frankly I couldn't pass up at the time. Then I had the opportunity to return to the Detroit Pistons, and it was one of those career decisions that you evaluate at the time in leaving as well as returning.
Mike Abdenour: There are a lot of guys with stories about pain threshold - Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Bill Laimbeer, Ben Wallace and Rip Hamilton. In order to play at this level and be highly successful at it, there may be nights where you really don't want to play, but the competitive juices just get you going. At that point in time, it's like, "Okay, let me go out and do what I can." As far as cry babies are concerned, I think the initials NBA summarize what that's all about - there are No Babies Allowed in the NBA.
Mike Abdenour: That's basically supplies you may need during the game - various kinds of athletic tape, various injury agents like gauze and medicines to stop bleeding. You carry latex gloves, you also carry rosin and gum, you also carry some medical instruments in case you need to do something on the court with your team physician - whose name is Dr. Ben Paollucci. Basically, your medicine bag is an extension of what you may have in the training room.
Mike Abdenour: The answer to that is no. I believe that the Washington Wizards have an assistant trainer who is a woman, and I know the San Antonio Spurs have had women helping them out in various capacities in their Sports Medicine departments. So at some point in time, the glass ceiling for athletic training will possibly be broken; but I don't know when that will be.
Mike Abdenour: (laughing) First of all, I'm not a "superhero." Secondly, basically what I'm carrying is a pair of very sharp scissors. In my left pocket are about a half-a-dozen latex gloves. In my right pocket are a dozen 4x4 gauze pads. Next to my very sharp scissors is a little belt case that has tongue forceps and a penlight flash light. On my left wrist I have a half-a-dozen little capsules, that when cracked open have a solution that immediately stops bleeding. If that constitutes me as a superhero, then I should have my own cartoon show.
Mike Abdenour: It is not true - I am Syrian. My mom's parents came from a town called Zadian. My dad's parents came from a town called Homs. My ancestry is not as strong as it should be - I don't speak any Arabic except while I'm driving up I-75.
Mike Abdenour: Thank you very much, I appreciate those kind words. All of those Championships have a special meaning at the time, but don't tell anybody, but this last Championship we just won was probably the sweetest of them all. That includes the tough struggles we had with the Celtics in getting to our first Championship, the dealings with Michael Jordan and the boys of Chicago in our second Championship. This Championship is probably better because I am much older than I was for the first two, and you just don't know what's around that next curve. So in the famous words of Chucky Daly, "Savor and cherish it all."
Mike Abdenour: I'll pass that along to Arnie Kander, our Strength and Conditioning Coach, but I kind of like Tayshaun where he is right now. If he had to carry that extra ten pounds in Game 2 in Indiana, Reggie probably would have made the basket and we'd be talking about a whole different situation.
Mike Abdenour: That would be an interesting match-up.
Mike Abdenour: The biggest adjustment is to understand what his needs are in order to make his transition as smooth as possible. When a new coach comes in, you have to adjust to his philosophy with regards to everything. Whether it's dealing with injuries, dealing with travel, dealing with on-the-bench situations, so that he can concentrate on doing what he has been hired to do, and you can concentrate on staying out of his way.
Mike Abdenour: The most athletic player I have ever seen - it's a three-way tie between Dennis Rodman, Ben Wallace, and Rip Hamilton.
Mike Abdenour: I'm overwhelmed by the interest that a lot of you have with not only myself, but with the Pistons organization here at The Palace. Maybe we can do this again in the near future, and I look forward to everyone's support as we defend our title in the 2004-05 season. And, as always, GO PISTONS!
