Have you ever walked down the street and picked up an old coin that someone else dropped? Maybe you made a wish, threw it in a wishing well and all of the sudden that coin looked shiny and was bringing you better days? If the Phoenix Suns are “The Fountain of Youth”, then head trainer Aaron Nelson is the magical wishing well that makes these coins nice and shiny again. Aaron Nelson takes in these challenges, “picking up a dusty coin” just about every off season. Nelson is only the second head athletic trainer to work for the Suns, the first being Suns Ring of Honor member Joe Proski who Nelson replaced in 2000. Nelson is now on his 17th season with the Suns and his 12th as the head trainer. Any well tuned machine has to have a mechanic that can keep things smooth. Aaron Nelson does just that for a team that over the years has been infamous for signing old players who were sent away by other teams because they were damaged goods.
Nelson’s training team uses techniques established within the National Academy of Sports Medicine’s Corrective Exercise and Optimum Performance Training (OPT) programs. These programs take a problem area and establish ways to look at what is wrong, but they don’t stop there. If you’re working on your car and a cylinder misfires you don’t just replace the spark plug and hope things fix themselves. Something made that spark plug go bad; it could be one of a dozen reasons. The human body is the same way, each and every athlete is different and Aaron Nelson’s staff asks the question, “Why is it injured?” They don’t just find the problem, they find the source. The OPT program is modified to fit each and every athletes’ needs, and spends more time on an individual than any other training program does. Let’s take a look at some of the shiny coins that have come from “The Fountain of Youth.”
In 2006 Grant Hill was at a turning point; resign with the Magic for a lousy contract; shop the free agent market, or retire. Retirement would have been an honorable decision by the seven time NBA All-Star after the injury plagued disappointing time he spent in Orlando.
After a successful stint with the Detroit Pistons, in 2000 (his first season with Orlando) Hill suffered from ankle problems and only managed to play four games. Things went downhill from there, he only played 14 games in his second and in his third “Magic” season Hill managed 29 games before sitting out his entire 2003-2004 season in Orlando. A health scare in 2003 led to six months of IV fluids to fight off the MRSA virus that Hill contracted during surgery but the 2004-2005 season was what seemed to be his final push at a NBA career. In 2004 Hill started and played in 67 games while earning All-Star status. The 2005-2006 season limited Hill to 21 games, but in 2006-2007 Hill played 65 games, in what many thought was his last season. Hill averaged 33 games a season with Orlando, over the course of six seasons before looking to the free agent market.
In 2006 Grant Hill decided to take another shot at a NBA career, signing with the Phoenix Suns for only 1 million and some change each season. Despite multiple injuries including the removal of a hernia, Hill had his first 70-game season since leaving Detroit, averaging 13.1 ppg, 5 rpg and 2.9 apg in the process. In 2008-2009 Hill appeared in his first ever complete 82 game season while averaging 12 ppg, 4.90 rpg, and 2.3 apg. In 2010 Hill had his first playoff series win of his career, becoming the only player to do so after 15 seasons. In June Hill exercised his option on his contract, giving him at least one more year with the Suns. Head trainer Aaron Nelson has done something no other trainer has ever been able to do with Hill, and that was keep him on the court for a complete season. After Hill was found contemplating retirement in 2006, Nelson has worked miracles. Hill was a player that has been limping his way to the locker room each and every season until Phoenix, and Aaron Nelson gave him a second chance at a career. Not only playing, but competing on a high level, Hill has averaged 14.3 ppg, 5 rpg, and 2 apg this season while starting 46 of 48 games.
After a very successful six seasons with the Dallas Mavericks, Mavs owner Mark Cuban was given an ultimatum by Steve Nash. Mark Cuban’s best offer for Nash was a four-year deal worth about $9 million annually, and when Nash brought Cuban the Suns six-year, $63 million offer, Cuban declined to offer any more and Nash’s offer with the Suns became official. Cuban’s hesitation to give Nash a new contract came with the fear that at 30 years old Nash wouldn’t be able to keep up his play as a speedy guard that could run the floor. To Cuban’s dismay, at 30 years young Nash had just gotten started.
As Steve Nash joined the Suns he helped to resurrect a team that went 19-53 in the 2003-2004 season. In Nash’s first season in Phoenix (2004-2005) the Suns improved to 62-20 and averaged a NBA decade high 110.4 ppg. “Stevie Wonder” finished off the 2004-2005 season by winning the NBA MVP award narrowly beating out Shaquille O’Neal. In 2005-2006 his momentum continued and Nash took home his second straight league MVP, and since then Steve Nash has exceeded expectations across the league. He has been one of the biggest contributors on a Suns team that has been torn apart and thrown together by Sarver and Babby about as wisely as throwing names in a hat and pulling out a starting line-up.
Mark Cuban passed on Nash not knowing if he would have enough gas left to muster out more than three more seasons. At the time, the entire league agreed with Cuban except for Aaron Nelson and his crew. The Suns training staff brought Nash in and immediately started to work on his chronic back and hip problems. The Suns staff has helped him to stay healthy for an unforeseen time as Nash is still putting up career numbers in an unlikely Suns playoff push. In his first MVP season Nash averaged 15.5 ppg, 11.5 apg and 3.3 rpg. In this Nash’s 15th season he is averaging 17 ppg, 11 apg and 3.6 rpg. It’s safe to say that Nash hasn’t begun to slow down at all. There’s still plenty of fight left in MV-Steve’s arsenal as he continues another strong season under Aaron Nelson’s care.
Say all you want about the Suns terrible trade and misfit for Shaq on the Suns, I agree with you. However, in Shaq’s 2008-2009 season with the Suns he averaged 17.8 ppg and 8.4 rpg, stats that you have to go back to 2005 in Miami to match. Aaron Nelson worked his magic again with the Big Cactus, helping Shaq to start in 75 games during his 18th season in the NBA. The last time Shaq managed to play 75 games before 2008 was in 1999 when he managed to play in 79 for Los Angeles. I’ve said it before and I will say it again, Aaron Nelson takes players who should be on their way out the door and helps them reach their career pinnacle performance once again. In his 2009-2010 season with Cleveland Shaq’s numbers dropped to 6 ppg, 2 rpg and 7 mpg. You can’t take it with you when you go. There is no substitution for the quality time Nelson spends working with each and every player.
Amare Stoudemire
Although Amare is all but old, the physical problems Aaron Nelson helped him through over his course as a Sun is another testament to the wonders that Nelson and co can do to a player. During the 2005-2006 preseason Stoudemire had to undergo micro fracture knee surgery, which has ruined numerous careers. Most notable on that list are Chris Webber, Allan Houston and Penny Hardaway. When Stoudemire had the surgery himself, his time table for return was pushed back a full season after a few games presented Stoudemire with knee stiffness. A lot of trainers not as thorough in examination wouldn’t have realized that Amare’s healthy knee had been overcompensating for his repaired knee and that it was actually causing more damage to his healthy knee. After an extra season of rest and rehab Stoudemire returned better than ever and led the Suns up until his off season departure to New York.
When the trade for Vince Carter and Marcin Gortat went through fans had mixed emotions. One side of the argument was that Carter was too old. Well, hopefully I have proven to you just how much of a miracle worker Aaron Nelson can be. When Carter came to Phoenix he took a week or so off to work on an ailing knee problem with Nelson. That problem didn’t just magically disappear, but Nelson has worked extensively with Carter on training techniques and ways to manage that knee that nobody else has ever shown him. Since his move to Phoenix, Carter’s season average has increased in minutes, points, blocks, three point percentage, rebounds and his turnovers have gone down. It is hard to say with Carter just how much Nelson will help. It is very likely that he (Carter) will be gone after this season, but what is for certain is how much he will benefit from the best training staff the NBA has ever seen while Carter remains in a Phoenix jersey.
Looking to the future, the Suns don’t seem to be straying from their ways of finding new players. They have two main alleys, the first being to take in new young players that haven’t been given the chances they need to succeed. Players such as Raja Bell, Boris Diaw, and now the new Suns sensation Marcin Gortat have thrived coming to Phoenix. The next key to success for the Suns has been adding players like those named earlier in the article that were struggling to run, stay healthy and competitive on their previous teams. In a league dominated by young stars most NBA teams live off the motto “out with the old, in with the new.” Luckily for the Phoenix Suns, Aaron Nelson goes against the status quo and has proven that one man’s trash can be another man’s treasure. When a player like Grant Hill comes to the Suns they get the attention they deserve, not just in the weight room but in the training room. The strength in these players has been established, and they understand how to stay muscular. What they need help with, and what Nelson works with them on is how to age and still play successfully. Molding the body with the correct exercises and stretches they need to translate to a new found youth on the basketball court.
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