On Thursday, the Sixers announced the hiring of Todd Wright as an Assistant Coach on Brett Brown's staff, as well as the team's Head of Strength and Conditioning. Philadelphia has also promoted former strength and conditioning coach Jesse Wright to a "newly created performance science position".
From the Sixers press release:
"We feel fortunate to now call Todd Wright a Sixer," said President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Sam Hinkie. "His reputation as a trainer of basketball players is second to none. His values and his ability to form genuine, lasting relationships with athletes to help them achieve their goals are both heavily aligned with our organization and with our player development in Philadelphia. When it became clear that the University of Texas was to make a change in their men’s basketball program, I booked a flight to Austin within 10 minutes."
Prior to joining the Sixers, Wright was the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Texas Longhorns men’s basketball team for 14 seasons, during which time he supervised the development of 16 players selected in the NBA Draft, six All-Americans and two recipients of the prestigious Wooden Award as the national player of the year. During his 21 years at the collegiate level with the University of Texas and Clemson University, Wright participated in 19 NCAA tournaments, including 17 consecutive appearances between the two schools.
Wright is also a well-respected speaker in the field of strength and conditioning, having presented on the subject of "Vertical Core Training," which he developed. Many of Wright’s unique training methodologies have been nationally recognized in numerous publications. He is also a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association, is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and a Fellow of Applied Functional Science.
The most notable thing about Wright's hire is his connection to the University of Texas, and more importantly, soon to be free agent Kevin Durant.
Durant spent his only collegiate season at Texas, and apparently developed a pretty strong relationship with Wright.
Never seen a strength coach so involved in game decisions than Texas' Todd Wright. He is same guy Kevin Durant credits for much success.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) January 31, 2012
Durant also had this to say about Wright in an interview with Stack.com (h/t to Spike Eskin):
That's one of the reasons I picked Texas as a school, because he does so much for guys. Not only gaining weight, but [making] sure you're always healthy. He knows a lot about the body. He's also like a doctor, because he knows why your knees are messed up...He does a great job of putting together a plan from the beginning.
The Washington D.C. native had a slew of injury problems in 2014, all dealing with his now surgically repaired foot. I imagine KD would like to keep a clean bill of health going forward. From what Kevin himself had to say, it's clear Wright could help him stay on the court.
With the addition of Wright, the Sixers are officially tossing their name in for the Kevin Durant sweepstakes in 2016. Well, I'm going to do it on behalf of the organizaiton.
Do the right thing, Kevin. Come to Philadelphia. We're bringing your friends.