Vitti Helped A.C. Keep Going

Barring catastrophic injury, A.C. Green on Nov. 20 will play his 907th consecutive game, breaking the NBA record held by Randy Smith. And Gary Vitti will smile.

“I will have a soft spot in my heart that night,” Vitti said. “Just say, ‘Yeah, A.C.’ ”

Green spent his first eight seasons with the Lakers before leaving as a free agent in the summer of 1993 to sign with the Phoenix Suns. Vitti was the trainer the entire time, through the hip pointers and the deep thigh bruises and the sprains and the thumb surgery that forced Green to play part of one season with a heavy splint.

Vitti still has the job, which meant he was on hand Tuesday night when the Lakers were in Reunion Arena and Green, now a Dallas Maverick, ran his streak to 902.

“You can’t take anything away from A.C.,” Vitti said. “He deserves all the credit. I just tried to help him along as best I could. He was the one who played hurt a lot of times. Even if I helped him, he deserves all the credit because he took the time to come in for the treatments and do whatever was necessary to get ready for the next game.”

Countered Green: “Yeah, but he wouldn’t baby me when I wanted to baby certain injuries. It was that tough-love sort of father.”

*

Rick Fox was a split second away from a lengthy suspension. Clearly angered after what he thought was an intentional takedown by Maverick Shawn Bradley after the two tangled under the basket with 3:01 left in the third quarter, Fox was on top and had his right arm cocked and his hand in a fist.

“I was able to stop myself just in time,” Fox said.

But just in case, it didn’t hurt to have teammate Robert Horry jump in.

“I’m a pretty composed person for the most part,” Fox said. “But I’m just like anybody. When someone is presenting you with bodily harm, you’re going to react. I’m glad Robert grabbed me.”

Fox got a technical but stayed in the game.