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D-Fenders Finalize Staff for 10th Season

October 26, 2016 - NBA G League (G League)
Los Angeles D-Fenders News Release


EL SEGUNDO - The Los Angeles D-Fenders have finalized the team's staff for the 2016-17 season by welcoming five members to the franchise, it was announced today by General Manager Nick Mazzella. The move comes after four staffers received promotions to the Los Angeles Lakers in the offseason.

Isaiah Fox will join Paul Woolpert and Brian Walsh as assistant coaches on the Los Angeles bench. Meanwhile, Heather Mau has been named head athletic trainer, and she will be joined by Misha Cavaye who will oversee strength and conditioning, massage therapy and team equipment. Lastly, Adam Cave will take over as the team's primary video coordinator and Nick Lagios returns as a basketball operations assistant.

Walsh and Woolpert return for their second season on the D-fenders bench after guiding Los Angeles to a Western Conference championship in 2016. Walsh's experiences have taken him around the world as he's coached internationally in Venezuela, Belarus, China and Vietnam, in addition to the NBA D-League. Meanwhile, Woolpert adds 30 years of coaching experience in the NBA D-League, Continental Basketball Association and National Basketball League in Australia, winning three CBA championships as a head coach.

A former McDonald's All-America nominee, the 6-foot-9 Fox lettered for the University of Arizona basketball team from 2002-06. At the conclusion of his collegiate career, Fox was drafted by the Austin Toros of the NBA D-League in 2008 before gaining international experience in Australia, Mexico and Japan. Specializing in player development, he has mentored athletes at various levels and joins the team after most recently instructing student-athletes at Monrovia High School in nearby Monrovia, California.

Mau takes over the athletic training duties in the place of D-Fenders team veteran Nina Hsieh, who was promoted to the Lakers staff in July. In her role, Mau will be in charge of monitoring the health of the team and is responsible for injury prevention and treatment of all players. She most recently worked at Cal State Northridge, where she provided services for up to five varsity sports. A graduate of Adelphi University, Mau holds a B.S. in Exercise Science and a Masters in Athletic Training from California Baptist University.

Cavaye will work closely with Mau in his role as strength and conditioning coach, massage therapist and equipment manager. The London, England, native has an extensive history with the Los Angeles Lakers organization, having served as an assistant equipment manager with the team since 2011. Since 2014, Cavaye has been a performance coach with Velocity Sport Performance and a posture therapist for Myodetox, specializing at in-home pain treatment, rehabilitation and other manual therapies. He is a graduate of Cal State Northridge and Concordia University.

Cave joins the team after spending the last year as a student assistant coach and video coordinator for the Pomona-Pitzer men's basketball team. Additionally, the Pitzer College graduate spent two seasons as a data analytics intern for the Los Angeles Clippers and interned in the communications department for the Los Angeles Sparks. He replaces Will Scott, who now functions as a video coordinator on the Lakers staff after five seasons with the D-Fenders.

Lagios returns to Los Angeles after a brief stint with the team in 2016. The University of Colorado graduate will once again serve as a basketball operations assistant, providing video analysis, statistical breakdowns and other assistance to the GM and coaching staff. Lagios was most recently a team assistant with the Australian National Basketball Team at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, and he has prior experience in assisting the Stanford men's basketball team.

The D-Fenders will return for their 10th season when the team hosts the Iowa Energy at 7:30 p.m. PT on Friday, Nov. 11, from the Toyota Sports Center. Winners of two conference championships, Los Angeles will look to capture its first NBA D-League title in 2016-17.

Single-game or season ticket options are available now. For more information, visit www.d-fenders.com.

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