最新杏吧原创

鈥淚 really want to recognize our medical and performance teams 鈥� this year was extremely challenging (with injuries),鈥� said Presti, the general manager of the 2025 NBA champs. 鈥淚 think we only had our full roster 8.5% of the games that we played. And it鈥檚 very rare that you have players playing more minutes together in the playoffs than they did the entire regular season. (Vice president) Donnie Strack and Andrew Paul specifically have really just shown great skill in managing us through the year 鈥� and getting ourselves to a point where we had great (player) availability at the end of the year and into the postseason.鈥�

In fact, by the playoffs, the only key guy injured was 鈥� Andrew Paul himself.

Yup, the Thunder鈥檚 director of performance and rehabilitation needed some rehabilitation after rupturing his quad during a workout with a player. He wore a massive leg brace and, thus, didn鈥檛 sit in his usual spot on the Thunder bench during the postseason 鈥� until near the end of Game 7 of the NBA Finals, as the Thunder took a comfortable lead at home.

鈥淔inally, last two minutes, I was like 鈥� all right, I need my seat back here,鈥� said Paul, 42, who watched the games from the Thunder locker room. 鈥淚t felt fantastic. You鈥檙e really happy for the players. There are guys that I鈥檝e been working with for a long time. 鈥�

鈥淪o, our medical performance team is behind the bench, and those like your direct coworkers, and so those were the first people I hugged. 鈥� And then, everyone鈥檚 just kind of running around and hugging the first person they see.鈥�

There were two hugs he couldn鈥檛 give.

His mother, Connie, a longtime 最新杏吧原创 educator, passed away in December of 2023.

His father, Gary, a longtime 最新杏吧原创 lawyer, passed away in February of 2025 鈥� during the NBA season and two months before the playoffs began.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e kind of a product of them, in a way, so almost everything you do is for them,鈥� he said of his beloved parents, who were married in 1974 and raised Andrew and his sisters, Sasha and Alexis. 鈥淚 think the biggest thing they wanted me to be was just a good father to my daughter. 鈥� I think they were exceptionally proud of my accomplishments professionally, but the front-and-center part of their life is their grandchildren.鈥�

Andrew and his wife, Melissa, have a 3-year-old in Oklahoma City. The rest of his family lives in the 最新杏吧原创 area, where his dream-chasing began over a quarter-century ago.

When Paul was in middle school, his parents signed him up for a strength and conditioning camp at Parkway North. He met strength coach Kevin Kinney, who Paul described as 鈥渙ne of the best high school strength coaches in my entire career to come across, and he happened to be the first one to coach me.鈥�

After playing college baseball at Truman State, and graduating from Missouri State, Paul returned to Parkway North to work with football coach Bob Bunton and Kinney in 2006.

鈥淚 always credit them for getting me into coaching in the first place,鈥� Paul said.

The next year, 2007, he was a graduate assistant for another successful football team. That was the time-honored Chase Daniel Tigers (who beat Kansas in that famous game). Paul ended up working eight years as a strength coach in Columbia, where coach Gary Pinkel and strength coach Pay Ivey became mentors.

鈥淚 went to PT school at Mizzou,鈥� said Paul, who received his doctorate. 鈥淪o there鈥檚 a process of point 2011 to 2013 where I was working full time as a strength coach for the football team, and also going to school full time, which is a very interesting experience.鈥�

In 2013, he took a fascinating gig in Florida. Not for the Gators, though. Paul worked for EXOS as a physical therapist for the special operations community, 鈥渨hether it鈥檚 Navy SEALs, Army Rangers or AFSOC, which is Air Force Special Operations Command. And the company I worked for ran a program called accelerated return to duty, which is basically people from these units, these Special Operations units, that had unique injuries. And it was all over the map. Some guys were going right back over to fight some more. Some of them were retired and needed just to get their bodies right, while they were retired, because they were in chronic pain.鈥�

Paul returned to sports in 2015 鈥� but took a gamble in doing so. He was offered a job with the developmental G-League team of the Oklahoma City Thunder (essentially, their 鈥淭riple-A club.鈥�), but he was also considered part of the Thunder NBA staff. Perhaps he could鈥檝e held out for something in football or directly with the big club of an organization. But he knew the Thunder franchise favored stability (he was filling a void left by an employee of 18 years). And Presti was impressive. And Paul spent much of the day with the G-League coach 鈥� Mark Daigneault, who, of course, became the head coach of the Thunder and won the title in June.

鈥淚 remember thinking, like, this guy鈥檚 a little different than, like, any coach I鈥檝e been around, not that I wasn鈥檛 around good coaches, but this guy鈥檚 young, he鈥檚 progressive and he鈥檇 be cool to work with. 鈥� His vision, his coaching style was ultimately one of the major selling points of taking the job.鈥�

The next season, 2016-17, he was full time with the Thunder.

And in 2024-25, Paul鈥檚 Thunder won an NBA championship.