32 Years of Titles and Tears From the Best Seat in the House

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• Title: 32 Years of Titles and Tears From the Best Seat in the House: What I Learned About
  Happiness, Greatness, Leadership and the Evolution of Sports Science
• Author: Gary Vitti
• Genre: Biographies
• Length: 243 pages
• Publication Date: August 20, 2019

Video Presentation

32 Years of Titles and Tears From the Best Seat in the House – Book Trailer

32 Years of Titles and Tears From the Best Seat in the House – Synopsis

Many fans refer to Gary Vitti as a Lakers legend. He doesn’t describe himself that way – but it is well known that he has worked with many legends over his 32-year NBA career. During his tenure as Head Athletic Trainer, the team won 12 Western Conference Championships and 8 NBA Championships. When he started in 1984, he was a one-man show, the first person at practice and games and the last one to leave. Since that time, iconic film and photos dot the media from network highlights to magazine covers. The job went beyond health care to personal relationships with some of the greatest champions to walk the planet. As a fixture on the first seat of the bench you can imagine, Vitti has seen, heard, and been part of unforgettable achievements and historical defeats.

Gary gives you a behind the curtain look, sneak peek from a vantage point he calls, “the best seat in the house.” Either on the court, on the road or in the locker room, he delivers story after story from lessons he’s learned on happiness, leadership, greatness, and the ever-evolving technology of sports science.

In his straight forward storytelling, Vitti allows us a bird’s eye view into the heated rivalries of the greatest professional Basketball match-ups fans have ever seen. Not just the athletic prowess of Hall of Fame greats like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, James Worthy, and Byron Scott but personal insights into all of them. Experience the intensity and benevolence of Pat Riley. Realize the business savvy of Lakers’ owner Dr. Jerry Buss and General Manager, Jerry West, as trades are made and dynasties are built. Strap yourself in – enjoy the ride!

Buy Links

Amazon (Kindle) | Amazon (Paperback)

About the Author

Gary Vitti has worked in the health care field for 40 years with 32 of them as the Head Athletic Trainer for the storied Los Angeles Lakers. During his tenure, the team won 14 Divi-sion Titles, 12 Conference Titles and 8 NBA Championships. Vitti also represented the Western Conference at 4 All-Star games. He has worked side by side with basketball hall of fame greats Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Shaquille O’Neal , Jamaal Wilkes, Bob McAdoo, Karl Malone, Gary Payton, Mitch Richmond, Dennis Rodman, Bill Sharman, Jerry West, Pat Riley, Phil Jackson and future Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant. From 1984 to 1992 Vitti was also the Head Athletic Trainer for the Los Angeles Strings of World Team Tennis. His teams and exhibition matches included but were not limited to tennis greats Jimmy Connors, John McEn-roe, Bjorn Borg, Ivan Lendl, Boris Becker, Martina Navratilo-va, Billy Jean King, and Chrissy Everett.

In addition to his work experience, Vitti lectures internationally. Since his retirement, he has given the 2019 commencement address to the University of Southern California’s Department of Bio-Kinesiology and Physical Therapy along with keynotes including but not limited to the US Military Academy at West Point, The University of Utah College of Health, The Equi-nox National Forum, Explor Conference, Imaging Network Group Forum and H-Wave’s national sales meeting. He has also spoken at conferences in Singapore, Shanghai, Orlando, and Sacramento.

He serves on the board of advisors for the International Sports Academy of Singapore. He has launched an online certifica-tion course, written a syndicated column for the LA Times, created an exercise video, published articles in peer-reviewed journals and appeared in two Hollywood movies. He has also been featured in Sports Illustrated, ESPN, ESPN Magazine, ESPN.Com, Fox News Sports, The Doctor’s Show, HoopMagazine, NBATV, NBA Inside Stuff, CCTV China, Tencent China, and Time Warner Cable Network as well as several other international publications.

Along with his professional life, Vitti is known for his phil-anthropic work. He created the National Basketball Athletic Trainers Association Foundation which during his tenure as chairman was involved with organ and tissue donation, the Miami Project for paralysis and the National Kidney Foun-dation as well as providing countless scholarships for young athletic training students. Vitti created the National Athletic Trainers Association Annual Blood Drive (now named in his honor) which set records for convention blood drives for the American Red Cross. He also served on the board of a Win-dow Between Worlds, an organization that uses art as a heal-ing tool for survivors of domestic violence. He currently is on the advisory board of Teamheal and the West Coast Sports Medicine Foundation: organizations that provide health care and education, as well as scholarships in underserved com-munities and he, is also a strong supporter of the Red Cross, Salvation Army, St. Jude’s Hospital and The Boys and Girls Club.

Vitti’s work has been recognized and awarded by the 26th US Senate District, the 35th US Congressional District, the City of Los Angeles, the California Legislature, US Naval Medi-cal Center of San Diego, his alma mater Southern Connecti. cut State University, Philippine Sports Commission, NBATA, Loyola Athletics, Teamheal, The West Coast Sports Medicine Foundation, STR Basket Italia, the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity and most recently became the national honoree for the Stam-ford Old Timers Athletic Association.

Vitti has two daughters Rachel and Emilia, a grandson Cole and lives in Manhattan Beach with his wife, Martha.