Dallas hasn’t had a stable medical department in years. Longtime director of health and performance Casey Smith was fired in August 2023. His successor, Johann Bilsborough, an Australian sports scientist previously with the New England Patriots and Boston Celtics, lasted two turbulent seasons, during which he had significant tension with athletic performance director Keith Belton, before he was let go in April. ESPN’s Tim MacMahon reported it was the fourth consecutive year the Mavericks had overhauled that department. Masai Ujiri named the problem himself at his introductory press conference in May: “One of the things I think we have to get better here is how we figure out medically what we do.”
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And if reports are to be believed, there might be a favorite.
Marc Stein of The Stein Line shared the latest intel on X, writing, “the emergence of former Canadian soccer player Nico Berg as a favorite to fill Dallas’ long-vacant medical director post.” This was then reposted by DLLS podcast host Kevin Gray Jr., highlighting the connection to Masai Ujiri.
“Nico Berg — who has studied under Alex McKechnie in Toronto and thus would naturally appeal to new Mavericks president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri — has emerged as a prime candidate and is expected to land the position as head of the Mavericks medical team #MFFL.”
Long before Nico Berg had opinions on hip mobility or core stability, he was a teenage Canadian midfielder, wearing his country’s colors at the 1989 FIFA U-16 World Championship. His professional career included stops with the Vancouver 86ers, London Lasers, and Winnipeg Fury before he spent much of the 1990s and early 2000s with the Vancouver 86ers and Whitecaps, retiring from professional soccer after the 2002 season.
Berg went back to school at the University of British Columbia, then earned a master’s in physiotherapy from the University of Queensland in Australia, training that, per his clinic bio, extended his consulting reach into the NFL, NHL and English Premier League, and other professional clubs across Europe.
His NBA tie dates to Minnesota, where he consulted for the Timberwolves for more than three seasons, from 2010 to 2014, teaching his “Hard Core Strength” program to the staff and working directly with players. Kevin Love has credited Berg’s pregame core routine; so have Ricky Rubio, J.J. Barea, and Luke Ridnour, and rehab director Andre Deloya spoke highly of his biomechanical work after more than two years together.
As for McKechnie, he spent 13 seasons with the Lakers, the last eight as athletic performance coordinator, before Toronto hired him in 2011. He won six championship rings across both stops, entered the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame in 2018, and in 2019, under Ujiri, then running the Raptors, he was promoted to Vice President, Player Health and Performance. And Berg has said he trained with McKechnie.
That said, nothing is finalized. But if the Mavericks are serious about breaking a cycle of four consecutive years of major changes in their health and performance department, they need to make a decision soon.