Walsh’s assistants Lloyd Beckett and Ale Oliviera also won awards as top assistants in their first year with the team.
Walsh made two life-saving calls this season. In January, Walsh warned Mirza Teletovic against getting on the team’s flight out of Los Angeles following a loss to the Clippers, and potentially life-threatening blood clots were found in Teletovic’s lungs, ending his season but saving his life. Only two weeks later, Walsh revived Nets assistant coach Jim Sann suffered a heart attack during a Nets practice, only for Walsh & the training staff to revive him on the sideline.
His propensity for saving lives earned him a bit of legend among Nets fans, launching memes like this one in response to Nationwide’s widely panned ad during the Super Bowl:
Walsh has been the head athletic trainer with the Nets for sixteen years. Prior to his time with the Nets, Walsh worked with the New York Knicks and Orlando Magic, as well as with the USA Basketball National Team at the Olympics in 2004.
