The Lakers parted ways with their head of sports performance Judy Seto after two years with the team, deciding not to renew her contract when it expired. For now, they will reportedly not be replacing her with anyone in that position (and whether the position is altogether eliminated moving forward or not, we don’t know).
Seto is most well-known for being Kobe Bryant’s personal physiotherapist from 2011 to 2016, and she was someone that he strongly credited for his durability and ability to play through injuries as often as he did. However, speaking from personal experience, direct patient care can be a starkly different world than managing patient care.
I wasn’t all that shocked at the move — Rob Pelinka had hinted at a more customizable approach to player health and fitness prior to the season — and I explained why in the following video:
There is a lot we still don’t know about the move but one thing is clear — the team has continuously been searching for an answer to its injury woes, as this is the third major move the organization has made in reorganizing the health and fitness team in the last two years. We’ll see if this one results in better health for the Lakers moving forward, or if another shift will be necessary down the line.
Dr. Rajpal Brar, DPT has a doctorate in physical therapy from Northern Arizona University, and runs his own in-person and online sports medicine and performance business, 3CB Performance, in West LA and Valencia, CA in which he further combines his movement expertise and fitness training. He also works at a hospital — giving him experience with patients in the immediate healthcare setting and neurological patients (post stroke, post brain injury) — and has been practicing for 4 years. Brar is additionally training at UCLA’s mindful awareness research center (MARC), has a background in youth basketball coaching and analyzes the Lakers from a medical and skills perspective for Silver Screen and Roll and on his own YouTube Channel. You can follow him on Twitter at @3cbPerformance.
