milkshakeballa
05-15-2010, 04:34 PM
http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/columns/story?id=5163230
He's in the middle of a story about Shaquille O'Neal (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=614) that's too colorful for this website to publish, and he's on a roll. We're all laughing way too loudly for a Wednesday afternoon. But when the phone rings he stops mid-sentence.
"It's either my wife or Kobe," he explains.
As it turns out, they met last summer when Vitti had to interrupt his vacation in Settefrati to fly to Spain and inspect Pau's injured finger. Vitti spent three days with the Spanish national team, checking out the elder Gasol's recovery from surgery and reporting back to the Lakers brass on the extent of the injury.
"Pau owes me three days' vacation," Vitti says. "And I will collect."
Still, some players were scared and resentful. During an exhibition game in 1992, Vitti and Johnson began to change all that.
Johnson was forced to come out of the game with a small cut on his forearm. Vitti came over to check out the cut. It was so small you could hardly see it. More of a scratch than a cut, so Vitti pulled out a cotton swab, left his gloves in his pockets, and treated Johnson as he would any other player.
Just a great article. Vitti really did get emotional talking about both Magic and Ali.
He's in the middle of a story about Shaquille O'Neal (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=614) that's too colorful for this website to publish, and he's on a roll. We're all laughing way too loudly for a Wednesday afternoon. But when the phone rings he stops mid-sentence.
"It's either my wife or Kobe," he explains.
As it turns out, they met last summer when Vitti had to interrupt his vacation in Settefrati to fly to Spain and inspect Pau's injured finger. Vitti spent three days with the Spanish national team, checking out the elder Gasol's recovery from surgery and reporting back to the Lakers brass on the extent of the injury.
"Pau owes me three days' vacation," Vitti says. "And I will collect."
Still, some players were scared and resentful. During an exhibition game in 1992, Vitti and Johnson began to change all that.
Johnson was forced to come out of the game with a small cut on his forearm. Vitti came over to check out the cut. It was so small you could hardly see it. More of a scratch than a cut, so Vitti pulled out a cotton swab, left his gloves in his pockets, and treated Johnson as he would any other player.
Just a great article. Vitti really did get emotional talking about both Magic and Ali.