Report: Gary Vitti Walked Away From Lakers HBO Show Over Jerry West Portrayal

Vitti and Mitch Kupchak were upset at how the program represents Jerry West.

The first episode of HBO’s “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” aired Sunday to mixed reviews.

The show, which is based on the book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s by Jeff Pearlman, chronicles the first year of the Jerry Buss era in Los Angeles. The first episode revolves around Buss’ acquisition of the team and decision to take Magic Johnson with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. 

One of the biggest criticisms is the show’s portrayal of then-coach Jerry West. Played by Jason Clarke, the Lakers legend spent 1976-1979 as the Los Angeles head coach. The show portrays West as an often-angry individual, who was upset the team was selecting Johnson instead of Sidney Moncrief with the first pick.

Marc Stein reports there are inaccurate representations of West’s behavior and relationship with the team.

“These are suddenly pertinent details, more than 40 years later, because the needlessly over-the-top portrayal of West's anger and alleged events that took place before the Lakers' selection of Johnson with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1979 NBA draft were so twisted in the first episode of HBO's Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty series,” Stein wrote in his Tuesday newsletter.

And now, former Lakers trainer Gary Vitti is walking away from the show due to his disagreement with the show’s view of West. Vitti spent 32 years as the Lakers trainer, and was set to make $15,000 as an actor an “in-house expert” on the show, but he walked away because he didn’t like the Jerry West character.

“It was a total mischaracterization of Jerry West,” Vitti said, via The Athletic’s Bill Oram.

Why would Gary Vitti, the long-time Lakers trainer, walk away from at least $15,000 and a continued role in #WinningTime? It was in large part over the show’s “total mischaracterizarion” of Jerry West. https://t.co/RdwhaHlA7O

— Bill Oram (@billoram) March 9, 2022

Oram also talked with other former Lakers employees, including former GM Mitch Kupchack, about their thoughts on how the show views West.

“The guy in the show playing Jerry and the Jerry I worked with for 14 years is not the same guy,” Kupchak said, via Oram. “Jerry was passionate but never lost his temper. Never. I would know.”