The Phoenix Suns have announced the club’s sports medicine and performance team, naming Brady Howe as Senior Director of Player Health and Performance, adding David Crewe as Director of Medical Services/Head Athletic Trainer, retaining Daniel Bove as Director of Performance, adding Adam Loiacono as Director of Rehabilitation, Cory Schlesinger as Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Frank Adams as Assistant Athletic Trainer, Jeff Dolan as Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach, Kohei Tamagawa as Sport Scientist/Assistant Strength Coach and Amy Atmore as Performance Therapist.
“I’m excited to surround our players with a diverse and dynamic performance staff where every effort revolves around comprehensive player care,” said General Manager James Jones. “The depth of knowledge and expertise will offer our players the tools and support to perform at an elite level while maintaining their health, and will serve as a great complement to our coaching staff.”
The sports medicine and performance team, consisting of nine practitioners will operate under the direction of Howe in his role as senior director of player health and performance with Crewe, Bove and Loiacono holding director titles and consisting of the leadership staff alongside Howe.
Howe is tasked with overseeing the entire Suns athletic performance staff including the medical team, performance team, sports science team and nutritional components with the goal of optimizing performance while ensuring long-term player health. Howe has previously worked on the athletic training staff of the Atlanta Hawks and served as director of athletic performance for the NBA G League affiliates of the Utah Jazz.
Crewe comes to Phoenix following one season as the head athletic trainer for the Memphis Grizzlies. He brings valuable NBA leadership experience to the Suns medical staff where his primary role consists of overseeing the athletic training staff and working closely with team physicians with the direction of player medical care. Prior to joining the Grizzlies, Crewe spent eight seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves including the last two as head strength and conditioning coach/assistant athletic trainer. In 2016-17, he was named the David Craig Assistant Athletic Trainer of the Year by the National Basketball Athletic Trainers Association.
Bove enters his second season as the Suns’ director of performance. In his role, he leads the efforts of the performance staff, taking the initiative in developing, designing and implementing the Suns’ athlete management system, including the integration of sports science concepts and utilizing different technologies to maximize athletic performance while minimizing injury risk. He joined the club in 2018 after two seasons with the Atlanta Hawks as the team’s sports scientist/assistant strength and conditioning coach.
Loiacono joins the Suns following two seasons as performance therapist for the Atlanta Hawks. In his role with the Suns, Loiacono’s primary responsibilities include planning and implementing the Suns’ return-to-play protocols and progressions along with providing treatment and rehabilitation of injuries with the overall goal of maximizing player health and performance output on the court. Prior to entering the NBA with the Hawks, he spent eight years in various roles with the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer, including five years as fitness coach for the club.
Schlesinger comes to Phoenix following three seasons as the sports performance coach for the men’s basketball team at Stanford University. With the Suns, his primary responsibilities include the design and implementation of the Suns’ individualized strength and conditioning programming with the purpose of optimizing overall athletic performance. In addition to his time at Stanford, Schlesinger has overseen strength and conditioning for basketball programs at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Santa Clara University.
Adams comes to Phoenix after spending the past two seasons in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ organization as the head athletic trainer for the Iowa Wolves of the NBA G League. In his position with the Suns, Adams’ primary role includes assisting the medical staff in overseeing the day-to-day operation of the athletic training room, treatments, injury prevention programs and documentation. Before his time with the Timberwolves, he spent two years as a graduate assistant athletic trainer at Abilene Christian University.
Dolan joins the Suns after spending nearly two years as assistant strength and conditioning coach at the University of Illinois, working with the baseball and women’s soccer teams. With the Suns, Dolan’s primary role includes assisting with all day-to-day weight room operations along with assisting in the delivery of the Suns’ strength and conditioning training sessions. Prior to Illinois, he worked as a minor league strength and conditioning coach in the New York Yankees organization, earning his league’s Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year awards for both 2016 and 2017.
Tamagawa joins the Suns after finishing this past season as a sports performance assistant for the men’s basketball program at Stanford University. With the Suns, Tamagawa’s role is to assist the performance staff in implementing sport science strategies and assisting with strength and conditioning training sessions with the goal of enhancing athlete performance and recovery. Prior to his time at Stanford, he worked as a member of the strength and conditioning staff at the United States Olympic & Paralympic Training Center and also spent two years at the University of Georgia as a strength and conditioning intern for Olympic sports.
Atmore comes to Phoenix after most recently working as a private sports physical therapist in Los Angeles, California. In her role with the Suns, she is primarily responsible for assisting in the treatment and rehabilitation of injuries along with assisting in the development and implementation of player performance therapy programs. Atmore has worked in sports medicine for over eight years and treated thousands of athletes at the high school, collegiate and professional levels, including NBA, NFL and MLB athletes.