Recognized as one of the NBA’s most respected strength and conditioning coaches, Greg Brittenham in his 16th season with the Knickerbockers, his 12th as an assistant coach.

“Any program is only as good as the effort put forth by the players, and the support received from the coaches and staff,” says Greg, a member of the staff for both Knicks Eastern Conference Championship teams of the 1990s. “Over the years, I’ve had great support and have been very fortunate to be affiliated with hard-working players.”

Brittenham, 47, stresses such traits as strength, power, speed, quickness, agility and coordination in his programs, and also takes a functional approach toward athletic development. He accomplishes this by combining basketball skills with conditioning methods, including less time spent on conventional equipment, and more time developing such traits as core stabilization, coordination and body control, all within a basketball context. Based out of the Madison Square Garden Training Center in Tarrytown, Greg also accompanies the Knicks on all road trips.

Brittenham is one of the League’s senior men at his position. Among current NBA strength and conditioning personnel, only Al Vermeil and Erik Helland (Bulls), Mark Grabow (Warriors) and Bill Foran (Heat) have been with their respective teams for a longer continuous stretch than Greg.

“Greg is a hard worker, he’s very enthusiastic about his job,” says President, Basketball Operations and Head Coach Isiah Thomas. “His job is such that you really have to love what you do in terms of physical conditioning. You’re working with a lot of sweat and a lot of times guys are upset with you because you have to say things to them that they don’t like. And Greg has found a way to inspire and motivate guys such that he doesn’t rub them the wrong way. I think that’s a delicate balance that I think he’s found a way to do.”

Greg is the author of two books, Complete Conditioning for Basketball (which has also been issued as a home video), and Stronger Abs and Back: Developing Your Center of Power (co-authored with his father, Dean Brittenham), both published by Human Kinetics with worldwide distribution.

Prior to joining the Knicks in 1991-92, Greg served for three years as co-director of athletic development for the National Institute for Fitness and Sport in Indianapolis. Brittenham is the holder of an undergraduate degree from the University of Nebraska at Kearney and a Masters degree in kinesiology, with an emphasis on motor development, from Indiana University.

Greg's father Dean, a world-renowned 40-year veteran of the training field, enjoyed a long tenure in the conditioning program at the famed Scripps Clinic in LaJolla, Cal. Now semi-retired, Dean Brittenham still trains many world-class athletes from his home base in Colorado.

Born in Bakersfield, CA, on Apr. 25, 1959, Greg lives in Stamford, CT, with his wife Luann and their children Max (19, and a Division I collegiate baseball player at Maryland’s Mount St. Mary’s University) and Rachel (15, and a star in her own right in basketball, soccer and softball). Greg lists his favorite hobby as spending all of his free time with his family (including summer backpacking through Alaska in each of the last eight years), and also volunteers much of his time to working with area high school athletes.