“I had $300 in my pocket,” he says. “And no job.”
At the time, it might have been hard for the newly qualified physiotherapist to imagine that one day he would be telling basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal—with his entourage in tow—to wait his turn.
Or that an idea sparked by a children’s playground would lead to a novel approach for improving recovery from knee injuries.
His innovative methods made him one of the most sought-after physiotherapists in sports and earned him a unique place in British sporting history as the first Briton to win an NBA championship ring, whether as a player or as a member of the sideline staff.
Now 74 and with six rings to his name, McKechnie—credited with bringing players back from career-threatening injuries—remains in high demand.
Growing up in the tough streets of Easterhouse, a notoriously gang-ridden area of Glasgow, McKechnie dreamed of playing for Rangers. But a car crash that injured his father and brother set him on a different path.
Watching them recover fascinated him, leading him to study physiotherapy at a technical college in Leeds before heading to North America in search of work.
Within a week, he found a temporary hospital position, and within a month, he was working with athletes from multiple sports at a university. This sparked his interest in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries, an area of sports science that was then under-researched.
When he started, there was no reliable surgical cure. “An ACL tear basically ended your career,” he says.
Working with athletes, he noticed a link between cruciate injuries, core strength, and pelvic control, and devised a rehabilitation process based on that insight.
He had patients wear elastic bands to simulate resistance while performing exercises that strengthened their core. This approach is now common, but at the time it was groundbreaking.
His next breakthrough came while walking his dog through a park where children were rocking on spring-mounted horses. That gave him the idea for a wobble board that enhances core stability through muscle movement.
The first prototype was “built with a large engineering spring,” and Reebok licensed the idea in 1999, turning it into a mass-market product sold worldwide.
Word spread about the physio piloting new methods and saving careers. In 1997, when LA Lakers star Shaquille O’Neal—then the NBA’s dominant center—suffered a strained abdominal muscle and faced surgery that would sideline him for up to 10 months, the grapevine pointed to McKechnie, 1,200 miles up the Pacific coast.
McKechnie had treated Anaheim Ducks ice hockey player Paul Kariya for a similar issue without surgery, and the Lakers liked what they heard.
A call from legendary Lakers general manager Jerry West changed the Scotsman’s trajectory instantly.
O’Neal, the Lakers’ prized asset, was sent to McKechnie’s clinic in Vancouver for an expert opinion. Patience, it turned out, was not O’Neal’s strong suit.
