Lakers Trainer Gary Vitti: Magic’s HIV Reveal, Kobe’s Achilles & Shaq’s Wildest Pranks
4/29/20262 hr 30 min
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.
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Clips
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
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Michael Easter0:04
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Speaker 20:19
Put yourself through some hardships, and you will come out on the other side a happier, more fulfilled, healthier person.
Michael Easter0:27
Listen to 2%, that's T-W-O percent, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3· Host0:35
A win is a win.
Speaker 00:39
Oh, that's right.
Speaker 3· Host0:39
[laughs] A win is a win. I don't care what y'all say. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor IV. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand-new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Daniel Alarcón1:08
[upbeat music] I'm Daniel Alarcón, and this is my friend who's much more famous than I am.
John Green1:18
I wouldn't go that far, but I'm John Green, co-host of the podcast The Away End, with my old friend Daniel.
Daniel Alarcón1:23
On our podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup.