How Portland's Courtney Watson blazed her own trail in sports training

We all have a vivid portrait of what the bottom looks like for players before they reach the mountaintop. It’s hours spent in high school gyms, years of skill training, then mandatory pit stops in college basketball or the minors to prove themselves worthy.

Then, and only if they beat the incredible odds, they reach the NBA and live the dream.

But what is the bottom for, suppose, an NBA trainer? The pathway is identical and just as ambitious, though covered in total obscurity. And the odds? Let’s compare: There are 450 jobs for NBA players. There are 30, one per team, for head athletic trainers.

Oh: Hike those odds a bit for a woman.

Therefore, it took putting in work on the high school level, in summer leagues, with the NBA G League, WNBA and Floyd Mayweather for Courtney Watson to arrive at this, her first season as lead trainer for the Portland Trail Blazers.

Whoa — Floyd Mayweather?

We’ll get to her time spent with “Money” in a minute. In so many ways, Watson is a reflection of the expanding roles that women occupy in the NBA. Twenty years ago, the vast majority held jobs in sales and community relations, not on the player personnel side.

That’s changing, surely in some cases, slowly in others. A recent study by the National Library of Medicine reveals that only 1.3% of head athletic trainers in the major sports leagues — the NBA, Major League Baseball, the NFL and NHL — are women.

Watson isn’t the first woman to hold this job in the NBA and, in Portland, she succeeds Jessica Cohen (now a trainer with the Bucks).

But she might be the first to hear the calling well before college, or even know what the job was all about, or that she would even be welcomed someday on the highest level. She’s now 20 years on the grind.

“I was made for this,” Watson said. “I’m passionate about sports, passionate about sports medicine, and seeing that collaboration, I just dove in and never turned around and looked back.”

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Injury sparks new path

She played basketball in Los Angeles at Westchester High School — the hoops birthplace of former NBA role player Trevor Ariza, among others — when she and a teammate sought treatment for ankle sprains at a nearby sports medicine center.

By the following week, Watson returned, this time as a working volunteer.

“I knew right then,” she said.

After college, she went back to Westchester, by then boasting a national basketball powerhouse boys team, to teach and create a sports medicine training program from scratch at the school, which never had a trainer.

From there, she immersed herself in L.A.’s basketball culture and community. Wherever there was a game, there was a need for an athletic trainer. And more often than not, Watson was around to provide a service.

Through word of mouth and with her constant presence and persistence, Watson connected — with organizations, teams and players. Soon enough, she was working the pro-am Drew League in L.A. Then the NBA Developmental League (now the G League).

All this time, Watson worked with men. The optics never dawned upon her until, more than a few times, she’d get double-takes when she identified herself and her job. A woman trainer was as common as a 6-foot center.

Eventually, the WNBA’s Houston Comets gave her a chance. When that team folded in 2008, the Los Angeles Sparks called. The fit was natural. Franchise greats Candace Parker, Tina Thompson, Nneka Ogwumike all vouched for her and Watson stayed there for 15 years.

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It wasn’t too long ago when she thought she could play in the WNBA.

“My goals shifted,” she said.

And if she were to confine her training to the WNBA, there would be no complaints. Again — she was in the game and in the profession, both passions.

“I always tried to stay prideful and grounded in what I did know,” she said. “And to shine a spotlight on our profession, along with being a Black woman and able to maintain the standards of the job and deal with all the politics that come with it.”

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Watson to Mayweather: Ice up

During her time with the Sparks, Watson side-gigged in the boxing world. There was a connection: Her uncle was fighting royalty.

Sam Watson once worked for Motown Records and knew Marvin Gaye. The singer introduced him to Muhammad Ali during the late stages of the champ’s career. A friendship formed and Watson gravitated to boxing.

He soon worked for Al Haymon, the high-powered boxing advisor, and helped manage fighters. One was Mayweather, who needed advice on recovery from fights and avoiding injury.

Courtney knew of therapy sessions spent with Parker and Kobe Bryant, who sold the WNBA star on the benefits of cryotherapy. The temperature in that chamber can dip nearly 250 below zero.

After an introduction to the boxer, Mayweather was hesitant. “he didn’t understand what an athletic trainer was,” she said, “but was willing to listen.”

And he had greater apprehension about cryotherapy.

“But once he tried it, it shook him,” she said. “He felt the benefits of the technology.”

Mayweather then had another question for Watson: “What else do you know?”

Watson had membership in Mayweather’s camp for epic fights with Canelo Alvarez and Manny Pacquiao, a rare woman in a sport where their jobs are usually confined to ring girls.

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“We kept the relationship over time,” Watson said. “After the Canelo fight, he got hit, and I sold him on stretching and taping and doing things that could help him prevent certain injuries and prolong his career.

“He took a liking to me and saw how much of an asset I was. He was a dedicated, hard-working guy and I think he saw the same in me. I think he saw me as an asset to his team, and the joy I had for what I did.”

There were challenges, though.

“He’s a nocturnal guy, so he does all his training late at night and sometimes well into early in the morning,” she said.

That posed a challenge at the Canelo fight.

“I had a Sparks game at 2 o’clock,” she said. “I flew back to L.A., then back to Las Vegas after the game, stayed awake and worked with him post-fight.”

One reason some women athletic trainers leave the profession is the hours, especially in professional team sports. The constant travel and time away from home (and kids if they have families) is tough on the lifestyle.

But then again, some are made for this.

Watson learned plenty during her time with Mayweather, whom she still counts as a friend and mentor.

“He’s his own coach, he’s self-motivated in how he talks to himself, he’s confident and reassuring,” she said. “All my textbook knowledge went out the window with him.

“But a lot of times I had to explain to others what I did for him. Very often people thought I was the trainer holding up mitts and teaching guys how to uppercut.”

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Blazing a trail to Portland

Watson’s body of work received extra layers when she earned her doctorate of athletic training in 2020 — you may now address her as Dr. Watson — and especially in years spent with USA Basketball. She’ll be in Paris this summer with the Team USA sports medicine staff for the Olympics.

When the Blazers job opened last summer, among the most qualified persons for the job, by almost every metric, was a woman.

It was an easy call for the Blazers, and an easy acceptance by Watson.

“A perfect fit for me,” Watson said. “I always wanted to go somewhere that wanted me, appreciated me but also that I would feel the same way about them. I just want to share the gift that I have to help our team.

“Scoot Henderson and I always share that we’re both rookies. Of course I’m not a rookie at what I do, but with this team, there’s a lot of rookie things I go through, just experiencing the season. The way we travel is triple the amount of cities vs. the WNBA.”

Watson has an almost motherly connection with the Blazers, who are the NBA’s third-youngest team and are somewhat unaware of their bodies, how to care for them and keep them fresh.

That’s where a trainer provides maintenance advice, injury prevention and anything else related to staying healthy.

“Having young players allows me to really educate and teach,” she said. “That’s a great joy of mine. They’re talented at what they do. I just want to help prolong their careers and get that balance with their mind and body.”

It weaved through different leagues and another sport but the climb to the NBA mountaintop was scaled anyway.

“Everything was meant to be, exactly how it happened,” Watson said. “Hopefully I can stay here 20 years, 25 years. I’m grateful for the opportunity, but also recognize that I belong, that I was able to grow and reach my highest level and potential. I appreciate all the experiences that’ll help me get even better next season.”

And if that means, for women trainers, she qualifies as … a Portland Trail Blazer?

“It’s all about setting a journey for others to follow.”

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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.

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