Inside a Road Back-to-Back

There’s a reason the NBA has tried to limit the number of back-to-back games that each NBA team plays: they take a toll!

The focus is on the players, and the how having to play a second game one night after full exertion can cause additional wear and tear.

Much is also asked of several staff members, no more than Lakers Equipment Manager, Andrew Henk, and assistant Brian Cuatt, who basically work around the clock to get the team ready to be in three cities in three nights.

Below is a look behind the scenes of a Tuesday-Wednesday road back to back at New Orleans and Houston that details what the equipment staff has going on:

MARCH 13: LAKERS LAND IN NEW ORLEANS
5:30 p.m. – After a 12:30 p.m. take off, the teams lands in New Orleans, and arrives at the hotel at 6:30. Henk hops in the luggage truck and heads over to the arena. The number of pieces of equipment usually stays the same on a road trip, which is around 50 to 60 bags and trunks of equipment, plus 70 to 80 personal bags depending on the trip length. For the longest trips – typically no longer than six games and 12 days – that total can reach 120 to 150 personal bags. Personals bags, medical and performance equipment and practice gear all come off at hotel. Everything else goes to arena, including gear, game sneakers, and so on.
6:30 p.m. – Henk and his Cuatt set up the locker room with name plates and uniforms, sandals, towels and so on. It’s typically a 45-minute, in-and-out process.

MARCH 14: GAME DAY IN NEW ORLEANS
10:15 a.m. – The three team buses depart for the arena for shootaround. Prior to that, Henk and Cuatt will deliver practice gear to the player’s rooms. Each player has their own specific preferences. Some like beanies, some thick socks, some long shorts, some long sleeves, and so on, in addition to their practice jersey. Henk will keep the main shoe bag with custom insoles and whatever each guy is planning on wearing during the game with him, and distribute that once they get to the court. 
12:00 p.m. – The bus departs from the arena back to the hotel. Henk will text the hotel bellman to meet him in the training room at a certain time (3 p.m. on this occasion) along with one of the trainers, and figure out what items go straight to the arena, and what goes in the luggage truck for the next city, or home.
3:30 p.m. – The early bus leaves for the game; this includes various support staff, and sometimes a young player (Max Christie, perhaps). Henk has already set up the locker room the night before, so it’s ready when players arrive. The early bus is for finishing touches, ensuring everything is ready. 
4:00 p.m./4:30 p.m./5:00 p.m. – The first (technically, second), second and third buses leave, including various staff members and players. The media crew (including yours truly with Bill Macdonald and Stu Lantz for TV,  and John Ireland and Mychal Thompson for radio) is usually on the second bus.
5-7:00 p.m. – Henk and Cuatt are on-hand to assist with any equipment-related needs. Henk gives visiting locker room attendant the list of very specific warm-ups that each player keeps throughout the game when they check out.

 
7:00 p.m. – Henk and Cuatt are available for anything that might be needed, say, a new jersey for someone with blood that won’t come out. Or a blown shoe, or new socks, or whatever. They even keep a bag dedicated just for gum.
9:00/9:30 p.m. – Game is over … by this point, Cuatt has already been packing things up getting them ready to go to the truck, and sets bags out in the hallway so the visiting team attendants can start wheeling them to the truck. After the game in New Orleans, there were four large bags of laundry. Henk typically leaves early to get to the plane and start the process of loading, while Cuatt will be the last man out of the locker room.

Here's the laundry breakdown:

11:30 p.m. – After getting everything loaded onto the plane – a task that Henk and Cuatt spearhead while most of the rest of us in the traveling party are ordering food on the plane – the flight leaves for Houston. 

MARCH 15: GAME DAY IN HOUSTON
12:30 a.m. – The flight lands, and all the bags are transferred to the waiting equipment truck, for an arrival to the hotel at around 1:00 a.m. to drop the personal bags and medical/performance equipment and so on.
1:30 a.m. – Henk and Cuatt arrive at the arena with the player’s equipment to set up the locker room. They assign lockers, put up nameplates and air out their shower shoes. They bring the four bags of laundry, and hand those off to the home team’s equipment staff.  Henk takes a photo of the bags, and sends it to Houston’s equipment manager. Houston’s staff can then just hang and place everything in each player’s locker.
2:30 a.m. – Henk and Cuatt arrive back to the hotel. Then it’s straight to the room, and try to fall asleep to get ready for the next day.
8:00 a.m. – Houston’s equipment manager arrives at the arena, and washes the Lakers gear. This is a standard upheld by the entire league, who will wash opponent’s gear with their machines. In fact, there is an NBA Equipment Manager’s Association where things like this are discussed and established. 
8:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. – From that point on, the game day operates much the same as it did for the prior day, except there’s no shootaround on a back to back.

MARCH 16: LOS ANGELES
1:30 a.m. – The team flight lands in Los Angeles. Henk and Cuatt help unload the plane, and load up the truck. With the Mavericks also landing around the same time from their game that night, the Lakers grabbed the Mavs’ laundry, and threw it in their truck. Upon returning to the UCLA Health Training facility, Henk and Cuatt unloaded the truck, and put all the dirty laundry in the laundry room.
2:30 a.m. – Their night, and the back to back, finally ends.