Chelsea Lane: How to make it in the NBA (re-release)

On this episode of Between Two Beers we’re re-winding the clock to November 2021 when we sat down with Chelsea Lane.  
 
Chelsea was in the news last week when it was announced she’d been appointed as the Head of High Performance at Basketball NZ and we thought it was a great reason to re-share her extraordinary story. 

After working in NZ for over a decade as a physio, and with High-Performance Sport NZ, she got an email from the NBA champion Golden State Warriors in 2015, asking for her help. Within a year, she was working with some of the biggest sport stars in the world as a performance therapist, within two years she was running the whole operation, leading a team of 25 and within three years she had two NBA Championship rings and was one of the NBA’s most coveted backroom staffers. She was then headhunted by the Atlanta Hawks, offered an executive role and within five years of leaving New Zealand was the Vice President of an NBA franchise.  

In this episode we talk about why she walked away from it all, the close personal relationships she developed with Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Andre Igoudala and Vince Carter, behind the scenes stories of team-talks with Steve Kerr, the magic she saw from Durante and Curry at training every day, how she celebarted her two NBA championships, how she navgiated 100-hour work weeks, and why so many NBA stars are so emphatic with their praise of her and her work.  

It will quickly become apparent why Chelsea has had the success she has. She's one of the most impressive guests we’ve ever had on the show – and we feel Basketball NZ have done a great bit of business.  

Show notes | Chelsea Lane

2.06 Tennis lessons, living life “off the grid”, being absent from social media.

6.46 Chelsea Lane in their words: Steph Curry, Andre Igoudala, and Sarah Cowley-Ross

10.17 Receiving an email from the Golden State Warriors and meeting head coach Steve Kerr

16.57 Why did the Golden State Warriors chase Chelsea Lane?

19.45 Progressing through the ranks in the role

26.38 Being female in the NBA

33.29 What did the role actually look like?

37.33 Is US professional sports as cold as it sounds?

42.31 In the huddle: pearls of wisdom from Steve Kerr and others

52.02 In the locker room: routines, winning NBA championships

1.03.08 The realities of working in the NBA

1.08.27 Chelsea Lane on Kevin Durant

1.11.38 From hands on treatment to the boardroom: Shifting to the Atlanta Hawks

1.22.17 Comparing Golden State to Atlanta

1.24.45 Getting Vince Carter fit for an 82 game season at age 42

1.28.00 Leaving the NBA

1.32.43 Is there a dream job here for Chelsea in New Zealand?

1.37.03 An interlude: Booking accommodation in Switzerland

1.38.26 Other kiwis in the NBA: Steven Adams and Sean Marks

1.39.42 A bit of Steph Curry

1.42.10 Last words from Steven, Seamus and Chelsea

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