There are certain basketball coaches who are just as well-known as the most famous players, though they are few and far between. Guys like Phil Jackson, Mike Krzyzewski, Gregg Popovich, and Steve Kerr. Rarer still is a trainer that can ever achieve that level of fame, but Chris Brickley is well on his way.
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The former Louisville walk-on has made a name for himself by training the top basketball players in the world, and his star is only continuing to rise.
Brickley will be playing tonight in the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game alongside teammates such as Terrell Owens, Shaboozey, and Druski. Even with all of the famous faces around him, he might be the guy that NBA All-Stars are most interested in watching perform because he’s helped so many of them with their games.
Brickley was an assistant coach at Fairleigh Dickinson for two seasons, but he got his big break in the NBA when he caught on with the Knicks. That’s where he helped train Carmelo Anthony and JR Smith, first as just an intern and eventually as the team’s player development coordinator.
Nowadays he works independently, and his client list is a who’s who in the world of basketball. From All-Stars like LeBron James and Jimmy Butler to top female collegians like Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd, to up-and-coming high schoolers (he worked with Cooper Flagg before the presumptive No. 1 pick had ever played a game for Duke) Brickley can proudly say he’s had a hand in coaching them all.
Chris Brickley is the most in-demand basketball trainer in the world
Brickley’s reputation has taken on a life of its own. He has 3.8 million followers on Instagram, and his workout videos with the game’s biggest stars often rack up over 50,000 likes within a day of posting. His ‘Brickley Invitational’ attracts the top high school players in the country, and he even has his own signature shoe line with Puma, the first deal of its kind for a basketball trainer.
Even the NBA itself has taken to posting Brickley’s videos with guys like Trae Young and Cole Anthony, a sure sign that he’s made it as the game’s go-to trainer. The summer pickup games that he hosts have become legendary for the sheer amount of talent on display, with some videos from those games (which have included LeBron, Kevin Durant, and James Harden) easily surpassing one million likes.
The basketball world has never seen a trainer gain this kind of following before, but Brickley is just getting started. He’s worked with famous musicians like Drake, Justin Bieber, Meek Mill, and H.E.R. He and his gym are featured in the MyCareer mode of NBA2k25, and the free kids camps that he’s hosted have only made him more of a household name.
Check Brickley and the other celebrities out in tonight’s NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, which will air at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
