Five UCLA Health sports medicine physicians — Calvin Duffaut, MD; Sharon Hame, MD; Kristofer Jones, MD; Thomas Kremen, MD; and Daniel Vigil, MD — will be team doctors for the United States’ men’s and women’s basketball squads when athletes convene on the world stage in Paris in late July.
Dr. Jones will be lead physician. He is head team physician for the Los Angeles Lakers and a team physician for the UCLA Bruins, and he brings a wealth of experience, both as a physician and former intercollegiate athlete, to managing the health and performance of elite athletes.
“Getting to know the athletes during training and getting a sense of their past injury history will be extremely important as we work to optimize their performance level following a grueling NBA season,” he said. “Many of the players on the USA team participated in the playoffs, so they faced a short time to rest and recover from the season before embarking upon international competition. NBA players are some of the most well-conditioned athletes on the planet and genetically predisposed to maintain a high fitness level, so our goal as the medical team is simply to help them stay on ‘cruise control,’ since their activity will now carry over into the off-season.”
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Dr. Hame, who is head team physician for the Los Angeles Sparks and team physician for the Bruin football, women’s basketball, women’s indoor and beach volleyball and men’s tennis teams, has a unique connection to the spectacle. While an undergraduate at UCLA, she worked concessions when the quadrennial event was held in Los Angeles.
Each physician brings to their role on the world stage their unique backgrounds as former athletes and seasoned sports medicine physicians. Their collective experiences in treating professional athletes across various sports have honed their skills in diagnosing, treating and preventing injuries.
This expertise is crucial, not only for the high-stakes environment of the event, but also for their everyday clinical practice, where they apply the same principles to help non-athlete patients achieve their best health outcomes.
Dr. Vigil, associate head team physician for the Lakers, said his experience has taught him to “see past the superstardom of the players and really focus on the medical aspects of what they need.” In addition to his activity with UCLA Athletics, Dr. Vigil is a medical consultant to the U.S. track and field team, and he has served as team physician for several international competitions, including the World Cup and World Championships of Track & Field, as well as the Pan American Games.
“I think having been an athlete myself gives me perspective on what it means to be an athlete or a patient in need of a doctor,” he said.
Noted Dr. Hame: “Traveling with the USA Basketball women’s national team to Belgium last year certainly was a great part of my preparation for this. Treating the athletes and going through the process of learning the requirements for international competition, such as the drug testing and becoming familiar with those processes, have all prepared me for being my best for this wonderful event.”
Likewise, Dr. Kremen has provided care to athletes during numerous international events. He serves as a team physician for the Los Angeles Lakers, the UCLA Bruins and USA Swimming.
“I’ve gone on trips to many, many athletic events abroad, and living in that environment feels pretty much like home to me,” he said. “This is particularly special because it only happens every four years, making each event unique and memorable. Serving as a team physician in Tokyo in 2021, amidst the pandemic, presented unique challenges, but it also underscored the importance of adaptability and resilience.”
Dr. Duffaut recognizes the disparity in resources available to professional athletes and everyday patients, but he emphasizes the universal applicability of sports medicine principles. “We understand that everyday patients may not have the same access to treatments, but we must ensure they get the best care possible, even if it means adapting our approach,” he said.
Being selected as a physician for the U.S. teams is a dream-come-true, said Dr. Duffaut, team physician for the Sparks and UCLA Athletics. “For those of us who played sports growing up, this event represents the pinnacle of achievement. Being able to care for athletes at this level and contribute in a significant way is incredibly exciting.”
Nicholas Bernthal, MD, chair and executive medical director of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at UCLA Health, stresses the value of caring for top athletes and then translating those skills to the general patient population.
“We love our partnerships, taking care of the elite athletes in L.A.,” Dr. Bernthal said. “It’s such a great way to push the field more. But really the whole purpose of it is that the innovations become available to everybody else and you start to see things trickle down to everyday folks like you and me who want to feel good, do things we love and stay fit.”
