Meet The Doctor Who Treats The Cleveland Cavaliers

During the Cleveland Cavaliers most recent run to the NBA Finals, the team became a national symbol for sports medicine as superstars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love suffered season ending injuries.

The man in charge of making sure Irving and Love get back onto the court is the Cleveland Clinic’s Dr. Richard Parker.

Crain’s Cleveland profiled Parker, who is currently the president of the Cleveland Clinic’s Marymount Hospital. The story offered a behind-the-scenes look at what life is like when your in charge of the medical well-being of multi-millionaire professional athletes.

Parker relayed a story of when he was monitoring Zydrunas Ilgauskas‘ minutes as Big Z was trying to get back onto the floor after a long battle with a foot injury.

Crain’s Tim Magaw wrote:

"“It was only a few months into Parker’s tenure as team physician when Ilgauskas, or Z as he’s affectionately known, felt a crippling pain in his left foot after taking a shot during a game against Miami.Parker and Ilgauskas visited a handful of specialists around the country before settling on one in Baltimore to perform the reconstruction surgery.At that time, Parker persuaded Ilgauskas and the Cavaliers organization that a two-year recovery lay ahead — a recovery that would include limiting Ilgauskas’ minutes on the floor, even if it meant benching one of the team’s strongest players at a critical point in a game.One time, Parker recalls Ilgauskas being benched as the game went into overtime after hitting his 32-minute ceiling.‘I remember sitting in the stands, and Z and (former Cavaliers coach) John Lucas were so mad at me,’ Parker said.‘You can imagine some of the four-letter words that were thrown at me. But at the end of the day, Z was able to end his career on his own terms.'”"

Undoubtedly, Parker endured the nightmare every team physician dreds as Cleveland marched within two games of an NBA championship. Fortunately, the Cavs appear to be in good medical hands.

Nobody thought Ilgauskas would have much of a career. He was a big man with a bum foot. Now his number hangs in the Cavs’ rafters. Parker’s treatment and advice clearly played a role.

Next: 3 Options For Cavs' Trade Exceptions

More from Factory of Sadness

Home/Cleveland Cavaliers