Article reposted from Fansided
Author: Ben Mehic
The Washington Wizards have fired head athletic trainer Eric Waters after finishing a season riddled by injuries
After two straight impressive runs in the NBA Playoffs, the Washington Wizardsfailed to make the postseason in 2016.
There were plenty of reasons why they didn’t add on to their newfound success.
First off, Ernie Grunfeld did a poor job of constructing the roster and asked Randy Wittman to change the team’s style of play, even though the pieces didn’t fit the puzzle.
Washington tried to play with increased pace and space, but the players that were on the team weren’t capable of implementing it correctly. The likes of Nene, Drew Gooden, Kris Humphries and DeJuan Blair were odd fits, to say the least.
On top of that, Wittman never coached an up-tempo team prior to this past season. The defensive-minded coach was taken outside of his comfort zone and Washington never found its identity as a result.
But perhaps more than anything else, injuries were to blame for Washington’s failures.
The Wizards started the season with plenty of depth at the wing positions on paper, but that slowly deteriorated.
Alan Anderson, Martell Webster and Otto Porter all suffered injuries early on, forcing rookie Kelly Oubre to take on a much bigger role than originally expected.
Jared Dudley, who was coming off back surgery, was also thrust into a starting role after playing Kris Humphries as the stretch four failed miserably.
Bradley Beal missed more games this past season than he did in the prior three.
The often-injured guard was on the sidelines and John Wall carried the club for most of the year.
Nene, as always, also missed time.
Injuries are such a common occurrence in professional sports, so it’s hard to point the finger at someone for them happening.
But, if someone had to take the blame, it would probably fall on the team’s training staff.
Washington felt the need to make a change in that regard, so they did.
According to J.Michael of CSN Mid-Atlantic, the Washington Wizards have fired their head athletic trainer Eric Waters.
After an injury-riddled season for Wizards that ended with their two best players– John Wall and Bradley Beal — watching their two-year playoff run dissolve, the team has fired head athletic trainer Eric Waters, CSNmidatlantic.com confirmed with multiple league sources Saturday.
Waters, as J.Michael pointed out, has been with the Washington Wizards for 12 years. He’s been a part of some injury-plagued seasons, including ones to Gilbert Arenasand Wall.
It’s truly odd that Washington felt the need to make a change, especially since the players they signed this past season had a history with injuries. The ones that were already on the roster were old, to put it bluntly. Injuries at this point in their respective careers aren’t surprising.