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\nAyami Sato is pictured with other members of the Indiana Pacers sports medicine team. (Courtesy photo)<\/p>\n
INDIANAPOLIS \u2013 The Instagram post has nearly 64,000 likes and 250 comments, with praise pouring in from across the basketball world.<\/p>\n
Ayami Sato is a legend, an inspiration, an expert at her job and a sweet soul. Star players Tyrese Haliburton and Caitlin Clark added another description to the long list: GOAT.<\/p>\n
The behind-the-scenes video, shared by the NBA in April, highlights Sato\u2019s role as an assistant athletic trainer, physical therapist and sports medicine administrator for the Indiana Pacers. It also offers a glimpse into why she\u2019s become such a beloved figure within the organization.<\/p>\n
Head coach Rick Carlisle calls her a \u201cvery valuable\u201d member of the staff, and the elite athletes who benefit from her expertise appreciate Sato\u2019s positivity, endless energy and encouragement.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s always in a good mood,\u201d Carlisle said. \u201cIt helps create the environment that we want here. It is infectious.\u201d<\/p>\n
The attention was both surprising and emotional for Sato, a 2008 graduate of the University of Nebraska at Kearney.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was full of tears because they were so nice,\u201d she said. \u201cI do understand I\u2019m one of the lucky ones. If you don\u2019t get the opportunity to prove yourself, you won\u2019t even be able to show people what you have. So many people in this world gave me opportunities, and I don\u2019t take that for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Dream Worth Chasing<\/p>\n
Sato\u2019s journey to the NBA began three decades ago, when a young girl from Yokohama, Japan, fell in love with basketball. She played the game year-round, eventually becoming a high school center.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was tall,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m 5-8, which is tall in Japan, so that made it easier to score. But I wasn\u2019t even near close to being able to play college basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, she began searching for other ways to stay connected to the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter my high school career was over, I was like, \u2018What do I do?\u2019\u201d she explained. \u201cWhat else is out there that involves basketball?\u201d<\/p>\n
While researching options online, she learned about athletic training. The profession immediately captured her interest; however, there was one major hurdle to clear. At that time, very few women worked as athletic trainers in professional sports, especially in men\u2019s leagues.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people told me it would be difficult,\u201d Sato recalled. \u201cI was told I can\u2019t do this so many times.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like so many of the players she now treats, resiliency became a big part of her story.<\/p>\n
Sato arrived at UNK at age 18, attracted by the university\u2019s affordability, English-language support and strong athletic training program. The transition to life in the U.S. was anything but easy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted a challenge, some kind of difficulty that would allow me to grow,\u201d Sato said.<\/p>\n
She spent her first year in UNK\u2019s English Language Institute, learning to communicate with everyone around her. When she entered college coursework, the language barrier continued to be an obstacle.<\/p>\n
Class lectures were often difficult to understand, so she struggled in the courses needed for admission into the athletic training program and was denied entry twice.<\/p>\n
Many students would have moved on to another major. Sato refused.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe I was young, but I didn\u2019t even think too much about it,\u201d she said with a smile. \u201cIf I wanted to do it, I was going to keep trying.\u201d<\/p>\n
On her third attempt, she was accepted into the program. She credits Scott Unruh, then-director of the athletic training education program, for believing in her when others may have given up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout UNK, I\u2019m not here,\u201d she said. \u201cI truly appreciate all the support I received there, especially from Dr. Unruh, my host family and the friends I met at UNK. It ended up being a great choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sato worked with Loper athletic teams and completed a rotation at Kearney High School while earning her bachelor\u2019s degree. She graduated from UNK in 2008, but her education was only beginning.<\/p>\n
Every step that followed was part of a deliberate effort to become a better clinician.<\/p>\n
She earned a master\u2019s degree in exercise science from the University of Toledo, where she studied ankle injuries and worked as a graduate assistant. That led to a head athletic trainer position at St. John\u2019s Jesuit High School in Toledo, where Sato worked with hundreds of athletes across multiple sports. She pursued a doctorate in physical therapy at the University of Dayton while continuing to work at St. John\u2019s Jesuit, giving her more experience in rehabilitation.<\/p>\n
Along the way, she sought opportunities that would prepare her for the highest level of basketball.<\/p>\n
A clinical rotation with the Oklahoma City Thunder organization opened doors. A position with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants (now the Noblesville Boom), the Pacers\u2019 NBA G League affiliate, followed. In 2023, she had the happiest meeting of her career.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a dream come true,\u201d Sato recalled.<\/p>\n
Making an Impact Every Day<\/p>\n
Sato can describe the past three years with the Pacers in one word \u2013 amazing.<\/p>\n
She enjoys the day-to-day responsibilities of the job, helping players stay healthy, recover from injuries and perform at their best while working toward the shared goal of bringing an NBA championship to Indiana. But the relationships are what she values most.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe spend more time together than family members, so obviously we become close,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve just learned so much as a human by working in this environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those connections are evident in the NBA video.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny time we walk in the gym, we know where Ayami is,\u201d forward Obi Toppin said. \u201cShe\u2019s amazing. She brings great energy every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Guard Ethan Thompson shares a similar sentiment.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time you walk in the building, we hear good morning from Ayami,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s something that brightens up the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carlisle also emphasizes an impact that extends far beyond her job title.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe represents her country with a great amount of enthusiasm,\u201d he said. \u201cShe\u2019s great at what she does. And she provides unbending and limitless enthusiasm every single day for the Pacers, so we love her.\u201d<\/p>\n
While others celebrate her accomplishments, Sato continues to approach her job as a student of the profession.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy goal is to become a better clinician every day,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is an amazing opportunity I was given, so I have to continue to work hard and improve.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sato certainly doesn\u2019t consider herself to be the \u201cgreatest of all time,\u201d but she does feel a sense of responsibility now. She hopes her journey encourages others facing obstacles of their own.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are so many things that make you think you can\u2019t,\u201d she said. \u201cI want people to think, \u2018Maybe I can.\u2019 No matter what other people say, if you want to try it, at least give it a shot. And it might just happen.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ayami Sato is pictured with other members of the Indiana Pacers sports medicine team. (Courtesy photo) INDIANAPOLIS \u2013…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":875822,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[40],"tags":[102989,76976,95955,36541,102990,1260,50,62,67,132,102991,68],"class_list":["post-875821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-central-nebraska","tag-grand-island","tag-hastings","tag-huskers","tag-kearney","tag-nba","tag-news","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-unk","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116771076721481571","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=875821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/875822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=875821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=875821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=875821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}