https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/more-sports/the-physician-targeted-in-oklahoma-mass-shooting-was-a-former-wnba-team-doctor/ar-AAY178X?ocid=msedgntp&cvid
Dr. Preston Phillips was targeted in the Tulsa, Oklahoma, mass shooting this week.
The gunman blamed the surgeon for his continued back pain following an operation.
Phillips served as a team doctor for the WNBA's Tulsa Shock before the franchise left the state.
One of the physicians killed in the mass shooting at an Oklahoma medical facility this week was affiliated with the WNBA's Tulsa Shock.
Dr. Preston Phillips, an orthopedic surgeon at Tulsa's Saint Francis Hospital, was targeted by the gunman during Wednesday's shooting that left five people dead — including Phillips and the shooter. Before the Shock left Oklahoma and rebranded as the Dallas Wings in 2015, Phillips served as the team's doctor as the franchise partnered with his Warren Clinic Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine.
Former Shock head coach Gary Kloppenburg, who has since joined the staff of the WNBA's Indiana Fever, mourned the death of the team doctor he remembered as "kind and compassionate."
"Lord help us, our wonderful @wnba @TulsaShock team doctor Preston Phillips was one of the innocent people murdered in the latest mass shooting," Kloppenburg tweeted Thursday. "Such a kind and compassionate man who loved basketball and looked out for our players."
"The dereliction of duty by the OK legislature and @GovStitt who have failed to protect their citizenry by implementing insanely loose gun laws hits close to home," he added in a second tweet. "RIP Doc 😭 🏀."
—gary kloppenburg (@CoachKlop) June 2, 2022
The perpetrator of Wednesday's shooting was a patient of Phillips. The 45-year-old reportedly blamed the doctor for continued pain following his May back surgery.
In a note he left at the scene, the shooter "made it clear that he came in with the intent to kill Dr. Phillips and anyone who got in his way," according to Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin.
As of Wednesday, the WNBA has not offered a statement on Phillips' untimely death. Representatives for the Dallas Wings, the franchise formerly known as the Tulsa Shock, did not immediately reply to Insider's request for comment.