A few months ago it was announced that a new, separate G League team would be created as a development program for high school players who want to skip college and go directly to the G League. The team will be located in Walnut Creek, CA. As information continues to trickle out, it was revealed today that the team would be called NBA G League Ignite. Sean Cunningham shared this news on twitter, and then we learned something much more relevant to the Kings.
The health of those developing athletes is in the hands of former Director of Sports Medicine of the Sacramento Kings @_petethetrainer the NBA league values the depth and breadth of this great medical leader!
— Manuel G Romero PhD (@mgromerophd) September 2, 2020
Former Kings trainer Pete Youngman, who was a trainer for the Kings for 25 years, will be serving as the trainer for the Ignite team. It’s great to see Pete landing another NBA-adjacent role.
Youngman and his staff left the Kings as, according to Youngman, former assistant GM Brandon Williams and Kings COO Matina Kolokotronis wanted to make a change.
Common practice for pro teams to use firms like this today. The Wizards did it last year. The Kings used a firm from England to review our sports med staff. We excelled in that review, but the COO and asst GM were set on change so they used the same firm to find the replacements.
— Pete Youngman (@_petethetrainer) August 18, 2020
If you’re on Twitter, Pete is a wonderful follow. He’s very gracious and shares great old anecdotes. We’re thrilled to hear about his new position and wish him the best of luck!
Sweet! Congrats Pete!
You love to see it.
Certainly the more deserving Pete to have a job in this league!
Where is my payment for that meme? I demand compensation.
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I’ll settle for some of that fine olive oil.
Went from the NBA to the GLeague and got a better and more respected job. Let that wash over you for a moment.
Great hire and Youngman will be very valuable while awaiting his next NBA or MLB job !
Even with all the memes here, really happy for Pete. Really sucks this organization let him go.
Pete has a great sense of humor and enjoyed the memes.
His reply to this article and pic on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/_petethetrainer/status/1301387048457129984
Go Pete !!
That said, I’m gonna watch Lu Dort ball a lot next year. Love that guy.
OT, Kings again furloughing staff.
Couldn’t they have furloughed Vlade and Peja? It could be argued that they are non-essential employees who did not contribute much. Now they, and Joerger, still get paid, while people lower in the pecking order have to deal with this.
Also, it is kind of sweet and sour that the Kings are on the forefront of social issues but apparently won’t go the extra mile to pay their employees. I wonder if Matina took a paycut.
Also “funny” that Vivek lets Dumars be the messenger.
https://twitter.com/sam_amick/status/1301286566938259459
Will the ignite have any potential top prospects in next year’s draft?
Several top high school players decided to skip college and go to this new G League route. I’m assuming at least a couple will be first round selections.
Could be more with a lot of college programs cancelled this year.
Nice. I live in the area. It will be cool to do some scouting of players the Kings can potential pick in the lottery next season. Assuming fans are ever allowed to attend games again.
Surprising news out of Brooklyn!
https://twitter.com/APOOCH/status/1301528653105422342?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1301528653105422342%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.netsdaily.com%2F2020%2F9%2F3%2F21419859%2Fin-shocker-steve-nash-is-nets-new-head-coach
KInd of a dick move to decide to hire Nash in May while they let Atkinson coach in the bubble.
Atkinson was fired in March. The Nets had Jacque Vaughn as their interim HC through the bubble and have retained him as their lead assistant.
Pete also loves Scott Perry. I remember reading a tweet saying while Scott was with the team, it was the first time since the new ownership group took over where it felt like a “normal” basketball team or something like that. I’m too lazy to look it up and no longer frequent Twitter, but I thought that was interesting.
Badge Legend