Tim Walsh named NBA Trainer of the Year

Tim Walsh, the Nets long time trainer, has been named trainer of the year for the second straight year, his daughter Lauren tweeted Saturday evening.

My dad was just told that he won trainer of the year award for the second time in a row. So proud of you daddy! #brooklynnets #timmysda

— lauren walsh✨ (@lauurenbabeeey) May 16, 2015

The award, the Jim O'Toole Athletic Trainer of the Year, is given by the NBA Trainers Association. The award is voted on by NBA trainers.

It's not a surprise, of course. Walsh played a crucial role in saving the lives of Mirza Teletovic following a January 19 game in Los Angeles, then assistant coach Jim Sann at the Nets training facility two weeks later.

Walsh was instrumental along with team physician Dr. Michael Farber in encouraging Teletovic to get a CT scan after he was taken to a L.A. hospital following complaints of shortness of breath during a game with the Clippers. Walsh stayed the night with Teletovic at the hospital and tests eventually showed that Teletovic had multiple blood clots in both lungs, a potentially life-threatening condition. He's completely recovered.

Sann suffered a mild heart attack at the East Rutherford training facility during practice and went into cardiac arrest, but Walsh and the team training staff kept him alive by performing CPR and using a defibrillator. He, too, is completely recovered.  Walsh and his assistant trainers all received awards from the American Heart Association recently.

Walsh just completed his 15th season as head athletic trainer for the Nets. Walsh spent 1997-2000 in a similar position with the Orlando Magic after serving as assistant trainer for the New York Knicks for 13 seasons.