Longtime Lakers athletic trainer Gary Vitti, who worked for the team from 1984-2016, told ESPN "everything is so raw with me right now" considering how L.A. distanced itself from West and other former franchise figures in recent years.
"The decisions that they've made, it makes it really hard to root for the Lakers. Not impossible. But it's hard. Because you're torn. Because there's people that you love that were hurt," Vitti said.
Vitti added: "I'm team Jerry West. And no matter how things ended up with Jerry and the Lakers, if he were still alive who would never want the Celtics to win another championship. And I feel the same way."
by sewsgup
34 Comments
Inject this shit into my veins, Jeanie has to go.
Time for Jesse and Joey to rally the siblings to overthrow Jeannie and cleanup the trash in the organization. Look how much damage the Rambi have caused. We missed out on Lue bc of them. How many other terrible decisions were influenced by them?
Gotta be the Rambii
Didn’t he participate in a show with a “disrespectful and inaccurate” portrayal of West?
This is rock bottom right now. State of the franchise has never been worse.
Jeanie riders, come out, come out, wherever you are
Lol i remember very clearly everyone asking for Gary viti to go after we had a string of injuries with the 2012 super team and then 15/16
Guggeinheim, please just buy the team at this point and run it like you run the Dodgers, for LA’s sake.
Man I can’t believe we’re being ran by Valley Girls
Edit: in a different context that wouldn’t be so bad
When there’s smoke….
Yet there is still bootlickers in the fanbase for Jeanie & Co.
I’m not defending vitti on shit, he can feel how he feels. He got booted out the franchise when he screwed up Nash’s injury. I still remember that
At one point there’ll be an ownership revolt
Gary is the GOAT trainer and a Laker for life. Should retire a jersey for him. Fuck Boston!
It all starts at the top right?! Jeanie has got to go
Funny how there was a time when it seemed like things could never get worse than Jim Buss running the organization.
Jeanie ain’t selling. The two younger Buss bros are invested in the basketball side of things. The fam is in it for the long haul.
Idk what kind of relationship Jeanie had with Vitti, but I hope these kinds of quotes continuing to come out makes her reflect on the franchise’s image and she actually makes an effort to turn things around. As the “family run” franchise of the league, the rep has to be better than this.
Magic, Kareem, Worthy, and Pau are really the only “faces” the franchise has left. West is gone. Kobe’s gone. We never know whose side Shaq is on. LeBron is bigger than any one franchise so he’s not gonna be a “Laker” when he retires.
Ughhh that hurts
All these red flags yet this sub will act like the Lakers brand isn’t in the gutter lmao.
I haven’t really watched ball since Kobe died. A lot of my love for the game died that day for some reason. It’s hard to explain fully.
I watched basically every game from the period of 1998-2020. I planned my schedule around the lakers. I watched every game of the Sacre, Hill, Clarkson era. I cheered for Nick Young and Andrew Goudelock. Point is, my fan credentials are there. These days, I check the boxscores and that’s it.
That said, observing the Lakers from this viewpoint of former huge fan turned into box score watcher has been really interesting. To see this juggernaut of a franchise run on the fumes of its former glory has been crazy to witness when removing how much I used to care.
What an absolute pile of shit this organization has become. They display their trophies reflecting the greatness of the Lakers while simultaneously disrespecting the former legends and people that helped them achieve their former greatness. The children of Dr. Buss, the great visionary, ran this fuckin thing into the ground and seem to be petty and vindictive on top of it.
Then you have the cronyism of Kurt Rambis and his wife… a dude who has a very clear track record of failure as an exec/coach… this is not a team worth investing your time, money, and life in. It simply isn’t. It’s really sad to say. Younger me would have never expected this.
I’ve been saying for years, and even got downvoted here, that it’s in our best interest as fans if they sell the team. We have the most prestigious franchise but with the poorest owners who can’t bring the franchise to its fullest potential.
Jeanie continues to run the franchise as a mom and pop shop which is insane for a multi billion dollar business. I wish Guggenheim could buy the remaining stake in the organization and run it like they do the Dodgers
Lakers slowly turning into the Knicks
Fuck what this franchise has become
Not only are the Buss kids team poor, but they treated a legend badly like this. They’ll sell within 10 years, I bet. Longer they wait, harder it will be for the fanbase (and possibly more likely a richer but still bad owner buys the team)
Where’s all the Jeanie truthers in the thread?? Yall seriously have your head in the sand if you dont think our ownership and leadership group is a joke
The franchise lost its aura. We were once known for success, for taking care of our own, now it’s failure and pettiness and resentment
Fuck the current status of this organization
It’s pretty mind boggling how badly Jeanie keeps shitting the bed.
I bet you muthafuckas want to downvote him too, cause that’s what yall been doing for anyone that has been critical of the Lakers front office when it comes to Jerry West.
Serious question: Why does so much of the heat get directed at Jeanie and not Pelinka? Sure, he was great at repping Kobe but running the Lakers is an entirely different deal.
Buss needs to sell Lakers to a billionaire or to a royalty.
This is all a euphemism for people wanted to get paid and Jeanie didn’t want to pay. I don’t believe any of this feelings bullshit.
Well isn’t this a swift kick to the family jewels!
Klutch seems to be running this team. Jeannie and Pelinka have to go. They’ve just completely fucked up the Laker brand. The new McCourts of Los Angeles.