CLICK HERE if you are having a problem viewing the photos on a mobile device With apologies to JaVale McGee, the Warriors probably suffered their most painful free-agency loss Tuesday with the departure of head performance therapist Chelsea Lane. Like our Warriors Facebook page for more Warriors news, commentary and conversation. The Warriors confirmed Lane, who has been lauded for her work by stars such as Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, is leaving to run the Atlanta Hawks’ training staff. First reported by The Athletic, Lane’s departure after two seasons overseeing the Warriors training program means Golden State will have their fifth trainer since the 2010-11 season. Lane, the only woman running an NBA training staff, was hired away from the Warriors by Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk, who was a Warriors assistant GM when Lane joined the team in 2015. One of the biggest impacts of Lane leaving could be on newest Warriors star DeMarcus Cousins, where her expertise was expected to play a big role in his recovery from a torn Achilles tendon. During the Warriors’ back-to-back championships, Lane has been instrumental in helping Curry recover from both ankle and knee injuries, as well as helping Kevin Durant (knee), Andre Iguodala (knee) and Klay Thompson (ankle). Thompson’s father, Mychal, said Lane deserves a video tribute when she returns to Oakland with the Hawks next season. Lane “worked a miracle on Klay’s ankle in the Finals,” Thompson wrote on Twitter, noting Klay recovered quickly from a high ankle sprain in Game 1 and avoided missing any time. Curry, who missed 37 games this season due to his injuries, has credited Lane with providing him with more than just physical healing. 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Kurtenbach: The Warriors can’t make the same mistake again this offseason Warriors exit interviews: Wiseman in future plans, help for Curry, the Klay-Oubre puzzle and more “It’s not just about the physical aspect of it, but the mental aspect of it,” Curry said about Lane in May. “Her amazing experience and knowledge of how the body works, but also getting you in the right frame of mindset so you can deal with being out, you can deal with the monotony of rehab.” Curry said Lane was “amazingly instrumental” in getting him back onto the court this season.<doc-sep>Noah Graham/Getty Images Golden State Warriors head performance therapist Chelsea Lane confirmed Tuesday that she's leaving the organization to become the Atlanta Hawks' executive director of athletic performance and sports medicine. Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic first reported the news and noted Lane was the only woman to lead an NBA's training staff. The Australia native received praise from coaches and players alike while with the Dubs. In May, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said Lane showed that women could find success in NBA roles traditionally held by men, per Melissa Rohlin of the Bay Area News Group. "I don't know if this is the perfect metaphor, but Chelsea Lane runs our training staff," Kerr said. "It hasn't happened an awful lot in this league, but it's worked beautifully because Chelsea has the respect of the players and her bosses." Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle noted members of Golden State's star-studded roster credited her for helping them throughout the long grind of an NBA season. "She's been amazing, especially for me," Stephen Curry said. "Just thinking about all that I've been through this year with the ankle and the knee and all that type of stuff, she's just kept me sane." Klay Thompson added: "Chelsea's been huge since she's been here. She's very knowledgeable. She keeps the training room lighthearted because you really don't want to be there that much as a pro." Video Play Button Videos you might like Before joining Golden State, Lane worked with the New Zealand national track and field program as well as other Olympic athletes from the country as part of High Performance Sport New Zealand.<doc-sep>Head performance therapist Chelsea Lane is leaving the Warriors after three seasons to take a similar position with the Atlanta Hawks, a league source confirmed Tuesday. The Athletic was first to report the news. Lane has been a key member of Golden State’s staff since joining it before the 2015-16 season. The crux of her responsibilities can be distilled to three words — “maximize player availability” — toward the top of her staff bio at warriors.com. Her ability to do so was severely tested in 2017-18. Warriors players missed a combined 189 games (162 in the regular season, 27 in the postseason) because of injury, which was the second most in head coach Steve Kerr’s four seasons. It is who missed time — not just how much total time was missed — that mattered. When Golden State players were sidelined for a combined 205 games (173 in the regular season, 32 in the playoffs) in 2015-16, most of those absences came from role players such as Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli. That’s in stark contrast to this past season, when each of the Warriors’ top five players — Stephen Curry (37 absences), Klay Thompson (nine), Andre Iguodala (24), Kevin Durant (14) and Draymond Green (12) — missed extended time. Though Golden State ranked only 18th in the 30-team NBA in combined games players missed because of injury, it was tied with San Antonio for the league lead in injury impact, per mangameslost.com. That site used a formula called the Lost-vorp injury metric — which takes into account what a team is missing in a player’s absence — to determine that Curry’s 31 regular-season absences negatively affected his team as much as any player outside of the Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard, who was limited to nine games by a quad injury. What those numbers fail to quantify, however, is the mental toll such injuries take on players. When Curry missed most of March and April with ankle and knee injuries, Lane stayed in Oakland with him while the team was on road trips. Her mini-pep talks during treatment helped the two-time MVP keep perspective. In those quiet moments, Lane lightened the mood with a joke when she sensed Curry was down. Lane, who spent nine years working with New Zealand’s Olympic team before joining Golden State, took Curry through daily exercises during the playoffs aimed at preventing another ankle or knee injury. After Thompson sustained a high left ankle sprain in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Lane gave him around-the-clock treatment over three days, getting him healthy enough to score 20 points in Game 2. There were a host of other ailments that plagued Golden State of which the public was unaware, thanks to Lane’s diligence and expertise. Over the past three seasons, she deftly has managed a staff of 25 people charged with keeping the Warriors’ roster on its game, both physically and mentally. Lane’s departure is the latest for what has been a turnover-prone training staff. In 2011, lead trainer Tom Abdenour parted ways with Golden State after 24 seasons. His replacement, Chad Bergman, lasted only two seasons before Johan Wang took over the training staff. After two seasons, Wang left and was replaced by Lachlan Penfold, who ultimately hired Lane. In addition to Lane, director of team security Ralph Walker also has left Golden State after seven seasons to spend more time with family, according to an Associated Press report. Walker is best known for being Curry’s personal body guard. A former member of the Oakland Police Department, Walker accompanied Curry virtually everywhere he went on the road. Connor Letourneau is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cletourneau@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Con_Chron<doc-sep>Steph Curry with trainer Chelsea Lane, who gets all credit for rehabbing Curry’s recent injuries. (Getty) In a now-rare turn of the tables, the Warriors are actually losing a key player to their success. Head of physical performance and sports medicine Chelsea Lane – the first woman to oversee an NBA training staff – is leaving for the Atlanta Hawks, per The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson. In Atlanta, she’ll assume the position of executive director of athletic performance and sports medicine. Lane is highly regarded for her handling of Steph Curry’s ankle injuries and MCL sprains, and her ability to keep veteran players Andre Iguodala, David West, and Shaun Livingston on court. Many Warriors players have lauded her no-frills, but holistic approach to medicine. “She’s great in both the physical and the mental, which is something that’s underrated,” Steph Curry said in a previous Athletic story. “There are ways you can approach injuries and the rehab process that keeps you engaged as opposed to it being work. There’s always a positive to learning something about your body and how it functions. For me, at least, that’s something I appreciate the most. You’re going to ice. You’re going to (get stimulation treatment). You’re going to do this workout, do that workout, get this treatment. There is more to it than that. She’s big picture.” Originally from Australia, Lane has worked in a number of sports, including rugby. You’ve probably seen her short blond hair and popped polo collar on the Warriors’ sideline – she was the only woman there. “She’s like a shrink to us,” Andre Iguodala explained. “A psychologist to us for real. And that isn’t her job description, either. But she sees how regularly we are dehumanized. People don’t even see us a human. They see us as machines. Our bodies no longer belong to us and there is disregard for our emotions, our feelings, our desires. But she knows how wrong that is and the effect it has on us. It’s rare for a player to confide in a team employee. But she knows NBA players deal with stress few others do. She’s like real family to me.” The Warriors’ training staff has had a remarkably high rate of turnover – Lane was notably the fourth person to lead the staff since 2010. Lane is the second Warriors employee to leave for the Hawks; former assistant GM Travis Schlenk left to become the Hawks’ general manager and head of basketball operations last year. 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Now the Golden State Warriors are down to only two MVPs. Warriors’ Head Performance Therapist Chelsea Lane confirmed to the Athletic’s Marcus Thompson that she is leaving the team after three seasons. Lane has agreed to take the Executive Director of Athletic Performance and Sports Medicine position with the Atlanta Hawks. Given the various injuries to the key players that almost derailed the Warriors’ season, Lane proved to be the ‘Dubs’ real MVP. Lane worked tirelessly with Stephen Curry throughout his various ankle and knee injures during the season. When Curry missed the final weeks of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs, Lane was by his side-staying in the Bay Area with him while the team was on the road. After Klay Thompson sustained a high ankle sprain in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, it was Lane with the around the clock treatment during the three day break to get him healthy enough to drop 20 points on the Cavs in Game 2. While Lane had more extensive work with Curry this past year, her biggest challenge was during the Western Conference Finals when Andre Iguodala went down with a bone bruise in his left knee. While Iguodala did not play in the remaining games of the conference finals and the first two games of the NBA Finals, Lane was able to get Iguodala ready for Game 3. Lane joined the Warriors in 2015 as a head performance therapist on former head of physical performance and sports medicine Lachlan Penfold’s staff. She would replace Penfold in 2016 as physical performance head. Lane was the fourth person to head the Warriors athletic training staff since Joe Lacob bought the team in 2010. (S/O to GSoM community member theslimreaper for posting this as a FanPost first.)