The Lakers have hired Dr. Vanessa Brooks as their head athletic trainer, people with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly on the matter told The Times. The position on the Lakers’ medical staff had been open after Roger Sancho left the organization to take a job with the Phoenix Suns.
Brooks worked with the Oklahoma City Thunder since 2019. She was the first Black woman to be dual certified as an athletic trainer and physical therapist.
She’s the latest hire in a restructuring of the Lakers’ medical staff this offseason, with Brooks working under Dr.