Pete Youngman has stepped down as Director of Sports Medicine for the Sacramento Kings, according to the team. Youngman has been with the Kings medical staff since 1993 and has also handled responsibilities for travel arrangements and accommodations. Under Youngman the Kings have regularly ranked well in ranking tracking total games missed by players, but have also had some notable minsdiagnosed injuries over the years. Overall Youngman is very well respected throughout the league.

Around Sactown Royalty he’s become the subject of the “Youngman!” meme, which I’ve heard anecdotally that Pete is amused by. I hope that’s true. Most fans bases probably couldn’t tell you who their head trainer is, we make ours into memes.

I’m not going to pretend to know if this is a smart move or a mistake, but it’s a known and respected face leaving the day to day operations of the organization.

The Kings released the following statement: