Assistant to the Director of Player Care
Long-time athletic trainer Mike Saunders was named to the newly-created position of Assistant to the Director of Player Care on May 4, 2005.
In his new position, Saunders will use his physical therapy and athletic training background to oversee a number of new areas in player care and development. Those areas include assembling a comprehensive injury database to assist in the tracking of player medical history and injury causes, as well as exploring cutting edge techniques in athletic training, medical devices, physical therapy and alternative medicines for team use. He will also assist the team in community areas that involve health for children and athletic training.
Saunders, who has been the Knicks athletic trainer for the past 27 seasons, began with the team in July of 1978, replacing the legendary Danny Whelan. The Queens, N.Y. native served as the trainer for the Eastern Conference in the 1986 and 1998 All-Star games, and was named as the 1994 NBA Trainer of the Year by the National Basketball Trainers Association (NBTA).