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Lakers Trainer Gary Vitti: Magic’s HIV Day, Kobe’s Achilles & Shaq’s Wildest Pranks
Basketball
Lakers Trainer Gary Vitti: Magic’s HIV Day, Kobe’s Achilles & Shaq’s Wildest Pranks
ALL THE SMOKE›
Apr 29, 20262:34:45119.2K views
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Eight rings. 32 years. The man who saw every Kobe Bryant practice and game finally sits down.
Former Los Angeles Lakers head athletic trainer Gary Vitti opens up on November 7, 1991, the day he realized Magic Johnson was HIV positive before anyone told him. He also revisits the 1985 Memorial Day Massacre in Boston, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s accountability speech, and why HBO’s Winning Time got Jerry West and Dr. Jerry Buss wrong. He breaks down Pat Riley’s famous “12 + 2 + 1” inner circle and why Kareem still has the strongest GOAT case.
Then come the Shaq stories: police academy frisking that broke Vitti’s pelvis, wild locker-room pranks, Kobe getting waterboarded by Navy SEALs, the Sacramento suppository moment, Kobe’s Achilles tear, the “F*ck Paul Pierce” walk back to the bench, and the instant Vanessa arrived and the Black Mamba became dad again.
This is 32 years of Lakers history told by the one man who was there for all of it.
00:00 Intro + Gary Vitti Joins ATS Unplugged
08:22 Gary Vitti on 32 Years With the Lakers
14:14 Inside the Showtime Lakers Locker Room
19:40 Pat Riley Was All Business
35:35 Kareem’s Mentality + Championship Standards
45:40 The Day Magic Johnson Announced HIV
01:21:10 Shaq’s Wildest Prank Story (Pt. 1)
01:23:59 Shaq Prank Story (Pt. 2)
01:39:00 When Shaq & Kobe Started Falling Apart
01:44:08 How Phil Jackson Controlled Kobe & Shaq
01:49:10 Kobe’s Food Poisoning Story
01:56:20 Kobe’s Mental Toughness Was Different
01:58:20 Kobe’s Obsession With Saw Movies
02:01:13 Matt Barnes & Kobe Watching 1000 Ways to Die
02:08:40 Convincing Kobe to Stay in L.A.
02:14:10 Kobe’s Achilles Tear + “F*ck Paul Pierce”
02:29:00 Jerry West, Pat Riley & Lessons From 8 Rings
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2 hours 34 minutes.
