Ed Lacerte, PT, L/ATC

As head athletic trainer, Ed Lacerte is the man responsible for keeping the Celtics players in top condition throughout the arduous regular season. His splendid medical background positions him among an elite group within his profession and has helped make him the longest serving trainer in the history of the Boston Celtics. A Licensed Physical Therapist, a Certified & Licensed Athletic Trainer, a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist, and someone who, in 1993, became Board Certified as a Sports Clinical Specialist by the American Physical Therapist Association, Lacerte is the only NBA Trainer with these credentials. Along with his training duties, he used this vast background and served as the Celtics physical therapist and strength and conditioning coach for seven seasons. In 1993, the National Basketball Association Trainers Association (NBTA), in a vote of his peers, selected Lacerte as the 12th annual recipient of "NBA Athletic Trainer of the Year." Other remarkable honors bestowed to Lacerte include being the Trainer to the "Dream Team," the inimitable 1992 gold medal-winning US Olympic Basketball Team, and Trainer and serving on the local organizing committee for the U.S. Olympic Gymnastic Trials in both 1996 and 2000. A native of Lowell, Massachusetts, Lacerte collected his undergraduate degree in Physical Therapy from Boston University in 1982 and his Master's Degree in Education in 1987 from the same academy. Lacerte was head trainer for the Boston University hockey and football teams from 1982 through 1985. He was employed in a physical therapy clinic and was a trainer on the interscholastic level for the next two years before his selection by the Celtics August 31, 1987. During the summer of 1990, Lacerte serviced the basketball squad of the US Olympic Festival, the country's largest amateur multi-sport event, held in Minnesota. His skills were used in two previous US Olympic Festivals, those held in North Carolina and Oklahoma. In 1991, Lacerte extended his knowledge as Head Trainer for the 1991 FIBA Junior World Championship in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Lacerte is an associate of the APTA, the National Athletic Trainers Association, and the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He serves as the Treasurer of the NBTA, a post he has held for the past eight years. Lacerte also mantains a physical therapy clinic, Pro Sports Therapy, at Boston's new practice facility, HealthPoint. Lacerte is a frequent and eloquent speaker regarding physical therapy/sports medicine and spends part of his summer discussing the topic with a variety of organizations in the New England region and throughout the country. He also is one of Cve NBA head athletic trainers who has contributed to a HarperCollins Publishers book titled NBA Workout Training Guide, published in January, 1999.