Joe Sharpe returns to Charlotte for his second season with the Hornets where he will serve as the Director of Healthcare and Sports Performance. A native of Bedford, VA, Sharpe spent ten season with the Oklahoma City Thunder serving as the senior athletic trainer. Sharpe previously spent four seasons as head athletic trainer for the Charlotte Bobcats. Prior to his time in Charlotte, Sharpe was the head strength and conditioning coach/assistant athletic trainer with the Minnesota Timberwolves for two seasons, which included the team’s Midwest Division title and run to the Western Conference Finals. Sharpe was the head basketball athletic trainer at the University of Connecticut from 1993-2002, which included the Huskies 1999 NCAA Championship season.

Sharpe has been an active participant with the USA Basketball program dating back to 2002. During the summers of 2012 and 2016, Sharpe won a gold medal while serving as athletic trainer for the men’s USA Basketball Olympic team. He won gold while serving as an athletic trainer for the men’s USA Basketball teams at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and 2014 FIBA World Cup. His involvement with USAB also includes serving at the Under-18, Under-19, and University World Games.

Sharpe currently serves as immediate chairman of the National Basketball Athletic Trainers' Association, and is a certified member of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association. He is also a certified strength & conditioning specialist (CSCS) with the National Strength and Conditioning Association, a performance enhancement specialist (PES) and corrective exercise specialist (CES) with the National Academy of Sports Medicine, a Select Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA) Level 1 and Functional Movement Screen (FMS) Level 1 with Functional Movement Systems, and a Level 1 Medical Specialist with the Titleist Performance Institute. He has pursued advanced training in dry needling, manual therapy, acupressure and acupuncture.

In 2007, Sharpe participated in the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders camp held in Johannesburg, South Africa. Sharpe also regularly speaks to young athletes about performance and health, as well as student groups interested in pursuing careers in sports medicine.

Sharpe developed an interest in athletic healthcare as a three-sport athlete at Liberty High School. He attended Old Dominion University, where he received a Bachelor of Education with emphasis in Sports Medicine, and a Masters of Education with emphasis in Athletic Training.

Joe and his wife, Jennifer, have two children, Joseph and Jayme.

Dr. Quinton Sawyer enters his second season as Associate Head Athletic Trainer for the Charlotte Hornets. He spent the previous two seasons as Assistant Athletic Trainer and Sports Science Coordinator for the Phoenix Suns. Sawyer also served for five seasons as the head athletic trainer for the Michigan State University’s men’s basketball team. Prior to his arrival in East Lansing in fall 2011, the Camden, North Carolina native spent two years as the head athletic trainer at Campbell University, where he was responsible for coordination and oversight of all athletic training services for the Division I athletic department. Sawyer joined the Fighting Camel program after spending three years at Southeastern Louisiana University as athletic trainer for the Lions’ men’s basketball and volleyball teams. Prior to joining the Southeastern staff, Sawyer spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at North Carolina, working with the Tar Heel men’s junior varsity basketball team along with the UNC swimming and diving teams. Sawyer was also a game day assistant athletic trainer with the Tar Heel varsity men’s basketball team, where he was a part of the 2005 NCAA National Championship run.

A 2004 graduate of UNC, Sawyer spent two summers as a certified intern athletic trainer in the NFL with the Denver Broncos for the organization’s training camp, also traveling with the team for all preseason games. Sawyer earned his Master’s Degree in exercise and sport science from UNC in 2006. Sawyer completed his Doctor of Athletic Training (DAT) degree through A.T. Still University in 2017. During the summers of 2004-07, he was a research assistant with JUMP-ACL (Joint Undertaking to Monitor and Prevent ACL Injury), a collaborative multi-site prospective cohort study of neuromuscular risk factors for Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries. The study is projected to enroll over 5,000 subjects and is based in the U.S. Military, Naval and Air Force academies. Sawyer completed a two-week volunteer rotation at the United States Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York during the summer of 2013 where he was the athletic trainer for the Women’s Junior National Volleyball Team. Sawyer has also volunteered on the medical staff for the Boston Marathon in 2010, 2014, and 2015.

Sawyer has also received several honors throughout his career, presenting his master’s thesis and his doctoral research at the National Athletic Trainers’ Association symposium. He is a member of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association and has attained the Performance Enhancement Specialist (PES) and Corrective Exercise Specialist (CES) certifications through the National Academy of Sports Medicine.

Quinton and his wife, Lauren, were married in May 2015 and are the proud parents to a daughter, Laila Rebecca.

Aaron Karkow joined the Charlotte Hornets as an Assistant Athletic Trainer during the 2017-18 season.

Karkow received his Bachelor’s degree in athletic training from Endicott College in 2012, and Master’s degree in Kinesiology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2014. He then went on to serve as assistant athletic trainer at the University of Mount Olive for 2 years. During the 2016-17 season he served as Head Athletic Trainer and Strength and Conditioning coach for the Greensboro Swarm of the NBA G-League before being promoted to the Hornets the following season.

Aaron, his wife Lauren, and daughter Brynlee reside in Concord, North Carolina.