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Pat Riley's Ruthless Rule That Built The Showtime Lakers

ALL THE SMOKE

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Gary Vitti spent more than three decades inside the Lakers organization, helping shape one of the greatest dynasties in sports history.

In this conversation, the legendary Lakers athletic trainer shares never-before-heard stories about Pat Riley, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West and the Showtime Lakers era.

Vitti breaks down Pat Riley's infamous "12 + 2 + 1" philosophy, why Riley viewed distractions as "peripheral opponents," and the culture that helped turn the Lakers into champions.

He also reflects on the 1985 NBA Finals, the infamous "Memorial Day Massacre," and the leadership lesson Kareem Abdul-Jabbar taught the entire organization after a devastating loss to the Boston Celtics.

Plus, Gary shares behind-the-scenes stories about Magic Johnson, Jerry Buss, Jerry West, Showtime Lakers culture, and why he ultimately walked away from HBO's Winning Time.

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20 Comments

@esecamanalli 3 months ago

Love Gary and his stories

@chanellerogers8862 3 months ago

Loving these clips w Unc. Great wisdom and experience. He has classic stories man. Great content!

@ivanbarnes6314 3 months ago

Excellent insight to my favorite NBA team.

@YDgy772 3 months ago

I deeply respect that this gentleman was honest about his former team and his role in it. Even more importantly, he didn't want to be part of anything that depicted the organization inaccurately and/or unfairly.

@ramond503 2 months ago

This is good stuff, you can tell as he's thinking, he's reminiscing, and we're listening.

@carseye1219 3 months ago

That was incredibly interesting. The 20 minutes seemed like 5. Great decisions to just let him talk with only a few prompts.

@theworldaccordingtosimba3366 3 months ago

Enjoy listening to this guy talk!!!

@kincamell2 3 months ago

Gratitude.

@ski8615 1 month ago

2:43 word 💜💛

@FianW-j9w 3 months ago

Matt barnes was mvp of playoffs 2017 chmpions
What a playee

@bobjames5264 3 months ago

5:51 Like Shaq always said: great players don’t have two consecutive bad games.

@SmokeDog1871 3 months ago

Sorry fam, you guys are all my peripheral opponents now according to Pat Riley 😆

@VZ935 1 month ago

Even though he didn't attempt many (1-18) there wasn't even a 3 pt line for Kareem's first ten or eleven seasons. I think it came in on Bird and Magic's rookie year.

@Cal-j8j 3 months ago

There was a video that i saw where Kareem's dad was walking to da bus in Boston....& Magic said this by da by.....Kareem asked Riley if his Dad could ride the bus....which was a big no ~no ..Riley said of course. 1st time LA beat Boston...ever

@mattparker2323 3 months ago

Now every team has 10 coaches plus 10 more training staff. Yet basketball was better in the 80s to late 90s.

@ericsheppard9718 3 months ago

6:02 Most ppl can only aspire to mamba mode. Mamba Mentality is damn near transcendental. It's masochism. It's pathologically breaking oneself w/ the understanding you will be stronger for it later.

@lazysob2328 3 months ago

I love the comparisons, BUT Wilt deserves a mention because he retired after only 14 years and the scoring title. He didn’t play into his fourties’ just to break it. He played until he was done, then walked away. Kareem was great, but only averaged about 9 RBs a game. Wilt averaged 22 a game AND ate the scoring record, playing against Russel Lanier Jabbar and the rest.